The scenic beauty of the Hudson River

But what it lacks in length, it makes up for in quality -- not even the mighty Mississippi can claim as much history per inch or scenic beauty per mile.

The Hudson is America's first great river. For the early Dutch and English settlers, it was the only artery of communication and traffic between settlements. As such, control of the river became a major objective during the colonists' struggle for independence. Later, with the building of the Erie Canal, it became the first great link with the new nation's wild, uncharted interior -- the first and foremost route west. Even after roads and railways were built, the river remained the region's chief highway.

The river has long been a showcase for American talents. Robert Fulton's steamboat first tested the waters off Clermont in Columbia County. Washington Irving, America's first great novelist, worked and lived along the the Hudson's storied shores, and the tales that brought him worldwide renown were based on the lore of the earlier Dutch settlers of the area.

Works by Frederick Edwin Church, Thomas Cole and other 19th-century painters in the region were soon identified as coming from"The Hudson Valley School,'' America's first great art movement.

In the post-Civil War era, many of America's pioneers of finance and industry ... the Harrimans, the Vanderbilts, the Morgans -- called the Hudson Valley home. Many of their lavish estates still stand, beckoning visitors back to the"Gilded Age."

And, lest we forget, it was only a little more than 50 years ago in the Hudson Valley that a small company called International Business Machines began its growth into the computer giant we now know as IBM.