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Sharp, Cliff

Outlaw wanted for murder and robbery in Texas and the Arizona and New Mexico Territories in 1876.[1] (May 12, 1836 – September 26, 1876)[2]

Married his wife, Molly, on April 6, 1875.[2]

In September of 1876, Sharp robbed the Wells Fargo office in Hallelujah, New Mexico Territory and killed its clerk during the getaway. He escaped to nearby Elbow Bend with Sheriff Chick Tucker's posse hot on his trail. Once in Elbow Bend and hiding in the shadows, Sharp saw Bret Maverick, an apparent stranger, ride into town, stable his horse at the livery and check into the Elbow Bend Hotel. After Bret was asleep, Sharp sneaked into his room and planted some of the Wells Fargo money in Bret's wallet and exchanged Bret's hat and gun for his. Soon afterwards, the Hallelujah posse arrived in Elbow Bend and asked at the livery if any strangers had come into town that night. Directed to the hotel, the posse found Bret with the planted evidence in his possession. Bret was arrested and taken to Hallelujah to stand trial, where he was found guilty and sentenced to hang. Sharp instructed his wife, Molly, to ride into Hallelujah on the afternoon of Bret's burial and claim to be his widow. She convinced the townsfolk that "Bret Maverick" was merely one of several aliases used by her husband, Cliff Sharp. Believing they had hanged and buried the infamous outlaw Cliff Sharp, the townsfolk of Hallelujah erected a marble gravestone for Sharp. When Bret learned that Sharp's wife had claimed to be his widow, he intercepted her on her stage ride to back home to her husband at the Dry Springs Way Station and rode with her to Santa Fe. At the Sharp home, a few miles outside of Santa Fe, Bret confronted Sharp to clear his name and shot him dead in self-defense.[1]

See: The Day They Hanged Bret Maverick