Riders of the Purple Sage is a Western novel by Zane Grey, first published by Harper & Brothers in 1912. Considered by scholars to have played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre, the novel has been called "the most popular western novel of all time." Riders of the Purple Sage is a story about three main characters, Bern Venters, Jane Withersteen, and Jim Lassiter, who in various ways struggle with persecution from the local Mormon community ("Mormon" is the informal term for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), led by Bishop Dyer and Elder Tull, in the fictional town of Cottonwoods, Utah.