Wagon Train (Frontier Adventures Book 1) by Wyatt Shepard

Paul Reid grew up trapping beaver side by side with his Pa until tragedy struck, leaving him to fend for himself. He's a grown man now, and wants a simpler life. If he can win the heart of a good woman and end his day in a warm bed with a full belly, he'll be satisfied. On his way to Fort Bridge to start on his new path, he comes upon a caravan of covered wagons full of weary travelers headed west over the Uinta Mountains. They are hungry, unskilled, and ill-equipped for the brutal trek. When they ask for his help to guide them the rest of the way to California so they can strike it rich in the gold mines, he wants to say no. But how can he when they stand zero chance of survival without him? He reluctantly agrees, knowing what awaits. As each day passes, the peril the expedition faces only increases. There are wolves, and bears, and heat, and cold...and that's without even considering the Indians, or the tensions brewing within the group itself. Will they make it out alive, or will the mountains win again?