Riders of the Purple SageNew 6x9 inch paperback edition. "Riders of the Purple Sage" tells the story of Jane Withersteen and her battle to overcome her persecution by members of her polygamous Mormon Church. A second plot follows Venters and his escape to the wilderness with a girl named Bess, whom he has accidentally shot. Venters falls in love with the girl, and together they escape to the East, while Lassiter, Fay, and Jane, pursued by both Mormons and rustlers, escape