The Gold Seekers — E.C. Tubb

Mark Young, ex-captain of the Confederate Army, agrees to guide a wagon train across the wastes to the goldfields of California. However, the wagon boss, Walt Shaw, begins to hate Young and his obvious attraction to pretty Shelia Blake. Discord and rivalry between the two men hamper the train's progress. But worse is to come: Indian attack, water shortages, and a desperate struggle to cross the hostile, mountainous terrain in time to beat the encroaching winter...