John Crust and Snuffling Pig — Marjorie M. McGinley

John Crust is a good man who has lost what gave meaning to his life, his loving wife, Mary. Abandoning his placer gold mine, John takes to the mountains with a horse and supplies. One night he bumps into two old friends, Caleb Jones and Henry McGuire, fellow gold miners who are horseless and without supplies. John gives them his beloved horse, and most of his supplies. Now on foot, he chooses not to return to Buffalo Mud where everyone knows him and would pity him for the loss of his wife. John takes the unknown trail. Arriving at a town named Snuffling Pig, John discovers that he's not the only one with a broken heart. And as these other lives weave in and out of John's life, he learns that love can mean life and death, but it doesn't always have to.