The illustrated story of a river that has served America well, as a point of embarkation for settlers moving westward in the 18th century, through its years as a boatbuilding centre, up to its heavy use in support of the coal and steel industries in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Monongahela is one of three rivers that meet in Pittsburgh, where Parker was Executive Vice President of the Waterways Association from 1971 to 1993. He recounts the river's history from a route for early expansion west to its current commercial and leisure use. Among the highlights are the beginning of shipbuilding in the 1790s, the growth of other industries and subsequent need for coal, Carnegie's first steel mill in 1872, the bloody Homestead strike in 1892, the rusting of the steel belt in the 1980s, and attempts to revive.