To Gather The Wind by Bodie & Brock Thoene

Jack Ryland is riding the Wells Fargo stage through California gold country when the stage is robbed by highwaymen. Not being much of a hero, he'd give almost anything to impress lovely fellow passenger, Eliza Richardson. A twenty-six-year-old man fresh from the East suddenly finds himself in the middle of a manhunt and a murder investigation. Jack knows he's got to catch the robbers and clear an innocent man before it's too late.