Vengeance Valley — Richard S. Wheeler

Hard Luck Yancey earned his moniker the hard way: getting swindled out of the fortune he earned on a high, windy ridge in the San Juan Mountains. But losing a silver mine and the town he founded hasn't stopped him. Now, he's made an astounding discovery--of black, Telluride gold--right beneath a Sisters of Charity miner's hospital. Yancey knows he must get ready: it won't be long before someone tries to steal this motherlode, too.

...Makes For Harder Justice
With only a bunch of nuns on his side--and maybe just a little luck--Yancey's going up against a gang of scheming, vicious mining barons who have already stripped the silver from the mountain and desperately need another payday--any way they can get it. Bad breaks, bad timing, and bad men have made Yancey smart, hard, and ready for a fight. And if there's one thing he's learned in the mountains, it's that when the silver goes, and the gold comes, the shooting won't be far behind...