Cannon Mines

Grant Cannon’s father left a hardscrabble East Texas farm for the Colorado gold fields in the 1860s.  After two years of waiting, their mother left for San Francisco and Grant and his brother headed west to look for their father, Dale.  They stumble on a collection of homesteads that the residents, mostly former slaves, call Freedom Town.  They stay there for several years, thinking that Dale is dead.  
Dale had been shot and robbed but survived three years alone in the mountains with amnesia.  The brothers find Dale and bring back toward normalcy.  Dale told them where to find much gold and silver, which turned into Cannon Mines.
Grant turned his newfound wealth into a large horse ranch west of Denver.  Three friends also bought multiple sections of land bordering Grant’s.  The small group have to fight to protect their property from claim jumpers, rustlers, thieves, Cuban assassins, wild animals, and Ute horse raiders.  They also helped rescue a Freedom Town resident from a lynch mob in Denver.
This book describes how a man raises himself up from poverty to wealth while maintaining high moral character.  It is chock full of western action, heroes, and villains.