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Riders of the Purple Sage
Set in 1871 Utah, the story follows three characters—Bern Venters, Jane Withersteen, and gunfighter Jim Lassiter—as they face persecution from local Mormon leaders in the fictional town of Cottonwoods.
"Riders of the Purple Sage" by Zane Grey is a Western novel. Set in 1871 Utah, the story follows three characters—Bern Venters, Jane Withersteen, and gunfighter Jim Lassiter—as they face persecution from local Mormon leaders in the fictional town of Cottonwoods.
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Read a passage
A sharp clip-clop of iron-shod hoofs deadened and died away, and clouds of yellow dust drifted from under the cottonwoods out over the sage.
Jane Withersteen gazed down the wide purple slope with dreamy and troubled eyes. A rider had just left her and it was his message that held her thoughtful and almost sad, awaiting the churchmen who were coming to resent and attack her right to befriend a Gentile.
She wondered if the unrest and strife that had lately come to the little village of Cottonwoods was to involve her. And then she sighed, remembering that her father had founded this remotest border settlement of southern Utah and that he had left it to her. She owned all the ground and many of the cottages. Withersteen House was hers, and the great ranch, with its thousands of cattle, and the swiftest horses of the sage. To her belonged Amber Spring, the water which gave verdure and beauty to the village and made living possible on that wild purple upland waste. She could not escape being involved by whatever befell Cottonwoods.
That year, 1871, had marked a change which had been gradually coming in the lives of the peace-loving Mormons of the border. Glaze—Stone Bridge—Sterling, villages to the north, had risen against the invasion of Gentile settlers and the forays of rustlers. There had been opposition to the one and fighting with the other. And now Cottonwoods had begun to wake and bestir itself and grown hard.
Contents
- 01Chapter I. Lassiter
- 02Chapter II. Cottonwoods
- 03“He has brought you far to-day?”
- 04Chapter III. Amber Spring
- 05Chapter IV. Deception Pass
- 06Like a flash the blue barrel of his rifle gleamed level and he shot once—twice.
- 07Chapter V. The Masked Rider
- 08“Oh, he’s only a boy!... What! Can he be Oldring’s Masked Rider?”
- 09Chapter VI. The Mill-Wheel of Steers
- 10“What on earth is that?”
- 11Chapter VII. The Daughter of Withersteen
- 12Chapter VIII. Surprise Valley
- 13Chapter IX. Silver Spruce and Aspens
- 14He did not pause until he gained the narrow divide
- 15Chapter X. Love
- 16“Bess, I’ll not go again”
- 17Chapter XI. Faith and Unfaith
- 18It was Jane’s gaze riveted upon the rider that made Bishop Dyer turn.
- 19Chapter XII. The Invisible Hand
- 20Chapter XIII. Solitude and Storm
- 21Venters and Bess finished their simple meal—then faced the open terrace, to watch and await the approaching storm.
- 22Chapter XIV. West Wind
- 23Chapter XV. Shadows on the Sage-Slope
- 24Chapter XVI. Gold
- 25Chapter XVII. Wrangle’s Race Run
- 26just as Wrangle plunged again he caught the whizz of a leaden missile
- 27Chapter XVIII. Oldring’s Knell
- 28and Venters shot him through the heart
- 29Chapter XIX. Fay
- 30Chapter XX. Lassiter’s Way
- 31“Don’t—look—back!”
- 32Chapter XXI. Black Star and Night
- 33Chapter XXII. Riders of the Purple Sage
- 34When he and Bess rode up out of the hollow the sun was low.
- 35Chapter XXIII. The Fall of Balancing Rock
About this edition
- Author
- Zane Grey
- Language
- English
- Era
- Modern (c. 1800–1945)
- Reading level
- Introductory: no background needed
- Formats
- EPUB, PDF
- Length
- 311 pages
- This edition
- Modern Philosophers
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