Elmer Kelton's the familiar stranger

"Hewey Calloway had intended to pass straight through Durango, Colorado, en route to visit a friend several miles northeast of the city. He'd left his home range about a year before with a herd of young horses. It was supposed to be a relatively straightforward affair: deliver the horses, collect the payment, and return home with the money. Things got out of hand, however, and there he was in Durango a year later, with plants to go north rather t...