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Riders of the Purple Sage

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Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey, Harper & Bros., 1912, 280 pages.

After Riders of the Purple Sage was released in 1912, it was labeled "scandalous" by Heber J. Grant, then president of the Mormon church.

Grey reportedly lived several years in Utah, in the society of the saints, in a small cabin he built. Surrounded by Mormon guides and farmhands, he came to hear of secret blood-oaths taken in temples to which only the faithful could gain admittance. He heard of binding loyalties to a priesthood patriarchy, and of plans for the Mormon "political Kingdom of God" to eventually consume all others.

From his writing, it appears that Grey joined other 19th and other early 20th century eastern writers and editors in their moral outrage at the "patriarchal order" of the Latter-day Saints. The antebellum eastern press unitedly condemned slavery and polygamy as "the twin relics of barbarism."

Set in 1872 in a fictituous souther Utah town of Cottonwoods, Purple Sage became the best selling of Grey's western novels.

The book is a clasically-romantic double love-story, replete with cattle rustling clergy and other Mormon scoundrels. It is set in some of the most majestic scenery of the United States, "where the clear blue sky arches over the vales of the free," a Mormon hymn asserts.

The plot starts with lovely Jane Withersteen, faiful saint of Cottonwoods, saving sagerider Bern Venters, a gentile friend, from lynching by local church leaders. Jane is then robbed and scourged by her wicked churchmen -- punishment for refusing to become the plural wife of her bishop.

She subsequently falls in love with a Mormon-hating gunfighter known and feared across the territory as Lassiter.

Venters spends much of the story sequestered in isolated Surprise Valley with a reformed "masked rider" called Bess. They also fall deeply in love and plan for marital felicity.

Grey's character development is believable, but much of the dialogue stereotyped. For example, Mormon missionaries were once popularly fancied to have some sort of mysterious, irresistable "power over women" (p. 228). Grey plays to this prejudice.

But Grey's dark picture of life as a non-Mormon in 1871 Utah actually pales in comparison to some historical accounts of the settlement of Saint George, Cedar City, and other southern destert towns.

Political power emanated from on high -- from the prophet of God in Salt Lake City, Brigham Young. And faithful saints "followed counsel" unquestioningly.

Purple Sage's Bishop Dyer seems to resemble somewhat Cedar City, Utah's historical personage of Bishop John D. Lee, who is best remembered for his role in the infamous "Mountain Meadows Massacre" of 1857.

A pioneer caravan of 137, traveling from Missouri to California, was attacked -- some historians say under priesthood orders. Adults and children who could speak were all slaughtered and left in the desert sun. Remaining infants were shisked off to church headquarters, destined for "good" Mormon upbringings.

Grey succeeds in portraying the easterner's view of Mormonism, typical of his era. However, both he and his protagonists were clearly outsiders among the saints. While Grey may have lived in Utah, he could never have been privy to the real inner politics and workings of the priesthood councils of "the brethren" who ran the territory as an oligarchic theocracy.

Unless a man takes the covenants of the priesthood and temple endowments, even today, he is an outsider among the saints. Women have never been allowed a significant role in Mormon church or political government.

On a literary level, purely as entertainment, Purple Sage is first-rate.

With artful twists of suspens and irony, Grey weaves a story which is at once riveting and plausible.

Mixed with his characters' prairie dialect: Proselyter, I reckon you'd better call quick on that God who reveals Hisself to you on earth, because he won't be visitin' the place you're goin' to" (p. 244) is Grey's own quick-paced narration.

Purple Sage is must reading for anyone interested in the life of Zane Grey, or seeing through the eyes of an Upper Delaware resident what life was supposed to have been like on the 19th century western frontier.

Note: This review was published in the October 30, 1986 edition of The River Reporter (riverreporter.com), Narrowsburg, New York, (c) 1986 by Tom Rue (tomrue.net).

This is the only western I've ever read; I'm mostly into classical literature, science writing, and non-fiction, but I asked friends for a book rec in the field, and they said read this one and the two Thomas Berger novels about Little Big Man.

The novel is interesting in that it's not a stereotypical western story. The main character is a woman who owns a large cattle ranch and is basically the mainstay of the little town of Cottonwoods, a Mormon town on the Utah border, sort of like the Cartwright family was in the popular TV western series, only in this case, Lorne Green is replaced by a female lead. The novel also is unusual in that it shows her struggling against the tyranny and even criminality of her fellow Mormon ranchers, who don't like the fact of a beautiful, wealthy, but unattached woman, who wields considerable influence in the local town despite their best attempts to undermine her.

One the things that sparked my interest in the novel was hearing an English prof in a radio interview on National Public Radio talk about some of the scholarship that is being devoted to genres like the western novel. She was working herself on the books of Karl May (The Legend of the Llano Estacado), Owen Wister (The Virgianian), and Zane Grey.

One of the interesting things she had to say had to do with Grey's vivid prose descriptions of the western landscape. She said Grey's prose sensualized the landscape, giving it an almost masculine sensuality and almost sexuality. I'm about halfway into the book, and I can say that the rugged countryside of sheer, rock-walled canyons, arid plateaus and valleys, and wide-open spaces of this part of Utah are vividly described by Grey and serve, not just as a dramatic backdrop against which the novel's events take place, but as a palpable force for good or evil by itself.

Contrary to some other reviews I've read that said the plot wandered a bit, I'm not really noticing that. I think the book has a strong plot with a lot of powerful elements going for it: interesting characters (including a dangerous and mysterious but chivalrous gunslinger), a sympathetic main character who struggles and triumphs against society's evils (not just a few western-style bad guys), beautiful and evocative descriptions of the landscape, and, as the backcover says it, "hairsbreadth escapes."

One last interesting thing is that, if I remember correctly, Zane Grey was actually a Pennsylvania dentist who failed in his attempt to set up a profitable dental practice in New York. He wanted to get into writing westerns, and when his first novel was a big success, his writing career was launched and he never looked back. Riders of the Purple Sage is probably his most famous book, and despite it's not being a typical western novel, it has become a classic in its field.

Of all the zane Grey classics, this is one of his best. Lassiter, the gunman, up against the Mormon power in Utah, complete with a hidden valley, thoroughbred horses, and plenty of bad guys. Adventure/romance has survived the years to remain a classic.

This is a real classic. I first read it as a teenager, now I'm 66 and enjoyed it just as much if not more.

Very good Western by one of the top two writers in this genre, Lois L'Mour being the other. Most of the negative reviews are quite historical. Historian Stephen Ambroose documented the extortion of the Mormons during construction of the Transcontinental Railway. Interestingly, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a VERY GOOD novel exposing some of these early abuses & injustices in his book, "A Study in Scarlet."
The early Mormons have much to be ashamed of, but let's not obfuscate the truth of history for their being ashamed of the past, nor let it cast a pale upon our contemporary Mormon friends.
An excellent book well worth reading, along with "A Study in Scarlet," by Doyle, which is also a skilfully written Western novel.

I have never, ever seen a book printed in such miniscule type as this one. There is no way for me to read this without a very strong magnifier, and I doubt anyone else could either. The unusual size type should have been noted somewhere in the book's description. I am very annoyed that now I have to go to the trouble and expense of returning this book, or just consider it a total loss. Fool me once.......

I have often heard of Zane Grey, the "Father of the modern Western novel." And I have heard of this book. I finally got around to read it, to my dismay. Surprisingly, at least to me, it appears to be mostly a treatise against the Mormon religion and it's treatment of women. Secondly, it is a travelogue with ongoing, over-the-top, boring descriptions of the countryside. I challenge anyone to draw a sketch or a map from the word pictures of the area that Grey concocts. In a way, I am glad I stuck with the book - although I was very tempted to quit at several junctures - because the last 30 pages or so have the thrill of adventure I would expect from a Western. With so many other authors to explore, it will probably be a long time, if ever, before I return to Zane Grey.

No western library should be without this novel. Zane Grey is a master and this is his masterpiece. It is a great book for young adult reader to get them intersted in the genre.

A master of the western genre, Zane Grey's trademark is his devotion to detail in both description and historical accuracy. When I read this novel, I felt as though I was there, riding alonside Lassiter--the classic gunslinger dressed in black--as he defends the spinster Jane Withersteen against efforts by unscrupulous men to take her ranch. Longer than the traditional western novel, this novel is the apex of Grey's work. A fascinating read (and ride). Thomas E. Hart Author of "Days of Vengeance" A western novel.

I re-read this story after many, many years. It was remembered as a good story, but, as I went through it again, I was disgusted by the cruelty of the people toward one of their own. Over and over this theme is replayed and overshadows the beauty of the scenery. I won't be reading it again.