Alder Gulch

Alder Gulch by Ernest Haycox is about a man who wants to become rich in gold country, but must confront a group of villains terrorizing Alder Gulch's miners. Excerpt: "ONE moment he was a cool man who viewed his chances for escape and found them full of risk; and then a night wind moved over the river with its odors of dark soil warmed by summer rain and the resin scent of firs and the acrid taint of brush fires, and when these rank flavors came to him he knew at once he was done with caution. He belonged to the land and the land summoned him."