text: Setting The setting is Southern Utah canyon country, 1871. The influx of Mormon settlers from 1847 to 1857 serves as a backdrop for the plot. The Mormons had been living in Kirtland, Ohio in the 1830s, but ventured west to escape local religious persecution.
  Point of view
  The story is told by an omniscient narrator reporting the characters' actions and thoughts, for example: "On this night the same old loneliness beset Venters..."
  Characters
  Jane Withersteen
  Wealthy owner and operator of the sizable Withersteen ranch founded by her father. Miss Withersteen sympathizes with both Mormons (her own people) and Gentiles, which gets her into trouble with the local bishop and elder.
  Bern Venters
  Venters is a non-Mormon employed by Miss Withersteen. As the story opens he is in a very poor state, being persecuted by the local Mormons. He is very able with firearms and horses, and is determined to survive and prosper.
  Jim Lassiter
  Lassiter is a gunfighter on a mysterious mission which brings him to Cottonwoods and Miss Withersteen. He is a non-Mormon and has no creed except his own pride.
  Bess/Elizabeth Erne
  Bess, known as the Masked Rider, has been raised by the outlaw Oldring and his band of rustlers; she has very little memory of her mother.
  Elder Tull
  Tull practices "plural marriage" and desires to marry Jane Withersteen. He also tries to drive Bern Venters and Lassiter out of town and out of the region.