The body of this book has two main settings. One is the Bronx, especially Hunter Island, in 1924—the time and place in which Two Trees tells his story to the young Theodore Kazimiroff. This setting is indicated by the use of italics in most of the book, which also signals the passages in which Theodore, Jr. is speaking as himself.

The second main setting has two parts: Hunter Island in the Bronx, where Two Trees grew up and lived most of his life; and Manhattan Island, Staten Island, parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and southern New York state, where Joe Two Trees lived and traveled from approximately 1855 to late 1862. On another level, the setting of the book includes Bronx history well into the past, because Joe Two Trees's life is heavily influenced by the tales of long-dead, and even legendary, figures from the long and complex history...