An epic poem in several volumes. It tells the story, the history, of the place that the town of New Paltz, New York, occupies: the primal forces composing it, the native peoples and their conquerors, as well as historical and fabulous figures.Book2, "Water Rights" concerns the construction of the New York City aqueduct, as it travels through New Paltz, during the unsettled era of the opening of the twentieth century. A well digger, Willie Clearwater, stands at stage-center.
