Home in the Valley
(Book)

Steve Mehan had accomplished what man had believed to be impossible. He had taken cattle from the home range in Nevada to sell in California in the dead of winter. Now the money from the cattle is on deposit with Dake & Company, but while in Sacramento, California, he learns to his shock that the company has failed and his money is almost surely lost. There is one hope: that news of the closure hasn't yet reached a branch in faraway Portland, Oregon. The only chance to get the money back will be to beat the steamer boat carrying the news to Portland. To do that, Steve will need a long relay of horses, and he will have to be almost continuously in the saddle.