NARRATOR: The James cuts a wide swath through the state.
But it's here, at Jamestown Island, where the story of Virginia and a nation begins.
Settlers arrived here in 1607, and low walls marked the outlines of the first permanent English settlement in North America.
The community was anchored by an old fort, which most people believed had been washed into the James River.
But in 1994, archaeologists began to uncover remnants of the fort, including more than 150,000 artifacts.
All of this land was once controlled by a collection of Native American tribes.
They were often at war with the settlers-- led by Captain John Smith.
In December 1607, Smith and some of his men were captured by the Algonquins.
According to Smith, the tribe's chief Powhatan was on the verge of killing him until the chief's daughter, Pocahontas, intervened and saved his life.
Modern historians believe this scenario is unlikely.
