forced to flee Maryland in 1684 in the aftermath of conflicts between colonists from Virginia and Maryland. In 2011, archaeologists identified the location of a 1680 fort that was built to protect the "friendly" Piscataways from the "hostile" Susquehannock. The Piscataway lived at the fort for about 12 years and enjoyed a working relationship with English colonists during that time. After assassinating Abraham Lincoln in April 1865, John Wilkes Booth fled to southern Maryland, toward Zekiah Swamp. Booth entered the swamp after treatment by Dr. Samuel Mudd for the broken leg he suffered escaping Ford's Theater. A black tobacco farmer guided Booth and his co-conspirator David Herold through the swamp to the home of a Confederate sympathizer, Samuel Cox. Cox led Booth and Herold to Thomas A. Jones who helped them the rest of the way through the Zekiah Swamp and across the Potomac River to Virginia. Ecology Zekiah Swamp is a greenway. Greenways are often long, narrow strips of undeveloped land that are surrounded by urban, suburban or agricultural development. A tributary of the Potomac River, the swamp is of braided stream, stretching the length of Charles County. Zekiah Swamp Run begins in Cedarville State Forest near Charles County's border with Prince George's County. It passes through two parcels of privately owned, but undeveloped land, to Zekiah Swamp Natural Environment Area where it empties into the Wicomico. Maryland is home to a wide array of ecological habitats, ranging from barrier islands and beaches, to saltwater estuaries, coastal plains and the Appalachian Mountains. It is estimated that prior to European settlement that the state was 95% forested with the remaining 5% being tidal marshlands. Most of the forests and marshes have since been destroyed by development. Zekiah Swamp Natural Environment Area is one of the few places in Charles County to be undisturbed. Moves to protect all of the swamp have been taken by the Maryland state government and the Charles County government. Zekiah Swamp is the largest hardwood swamp in Maryland. It is considered to be one of the "most important ecological areas on the East Coast" by the Smithsonian Institution. Sediment buildup in the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay will be slowed or prevented by the protection of plant life in the swamps. The plants work to absorb much of the runoff that would otherwise pollute the waters. Recreational use Although the Zekiah Swamp Natural Environment Area is primarily