A local society of escaped slaves who survived in settlements hidden in an unforgiving morass of ooze and mosquitoes will be the focus of a historical television special this Monday.

“Escape to the Great Dismal Swamp” will air on the Smithsonian Channel Monday night. The documentary covers an archeological expedition into the swamp that revealed remarkable settlements of runaway slaves that evaded capture in the harsh mud.

“In the 1800s, southern newspapers ran ads seeking runaway slaves suspected of taking refuge in a vast wetland called the Great Dismal Swamp,” according to smithsonianchannel.com. “For decades, scholars have sought proof that the reports were true, and now they finally have it.

“See how a team of archaeologists is using new discoveries and modern dating methods to piece together this lost part of American history.”

Enslaved Africans who escaped to live in free, independent settlements — along with their descendants — were known as “maroons.” The term is believed to stem from the Spanish “cimarrón,” which refers to something wild or defiant, according to an article published in Smithsonian Magazine and written by Richard Grant.

But it wasn’t just escaped slaves that lived in these swamp communities. There were also Native Americans fleeing from the colonial frontier, along with whites escaping indentured servitude or hiding from the law.

Visitor Services Manager Deloras Freeman and other staff at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge were interviewed for the documentary. Freeman found out that her great-grandmother spent time in a maroon colony when she was young, she said.

“There’s so much interest in the maroons. Not just because it’s part of the refuge, but because it ties directly to the ancestry of the people that lived in the area,” she said in a phone interview.

Archaeologist Dan Sayers, an associate professor and anthropology department chair at American University, began his foray into the swamp’s maroon history in 2004. He has since discovered more than 3,600 artifacts and published his findings in his book “A Desolate Place for a Defiant People’ in 2014, according to the Smithsonian Magazine article.

Sayers and others uncovered a brutal living with raids on local farms and plantations and the persistent threat of attack. But there was also evidence of log cabins, gardens and families from long ago on a 20-acre island in the marsh.

“There were hardships and deprivations, for sure,” Sayers said in the 2016 Smithsonian Magazine article. “But no overseer was going to whip them here. No one was going to work them in a cotton field from sunup to sundown, or sell their spouses and children. They were free. They had emancipated themselves.”

“Escape to the Great Dismal Swamp” will air at 8 p.m. this Monday on the Smithsonian Channel, followed by an encore presentation at 11 p.m. Visit smithsonianchannel.com for more information.