Cliff Calhoun (1870-) was an American outlaw of the Wild West and the leader of the Twin Rocks Gang of Twin Rocks, Colfax County, New Mexico.
Biography[]
Cliff Calhoun was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1870 to a Scots-Irish family, and he became an outlaw during the Wild West era. He became the leader of the Twin Rocks Gang of Colfax County during the late 19th century, and, in 1898, he and his gang kidnapped the businessman Terrence O'Dowd's wife Allison. Allison - who was unhappy with her marriage - fell in love with Cliff, and the two made plans to elope together. Terrence later hired the outlaws Arizona Kid, Jebus Foles, Ned Cushing, and Wong Lu to rescue Allison, and they killed all of Calhoun's gang members before confronting Cliff and Allison inside the hut. There, the two revealed that they were in love, and Cliff asked the outlaws to have a heart and offered to give them what little money they had in exchange for their help in ensuring their escape. The outlaws guarded Cliff and Allison's wagon as they rode away, and they killed several of Terrence's hired guns as they attempted to intercept them. The couple then decided to abandon their wagon in the wilderness in order to make their escape, and they made plans to head somewhere hot such as Mexico or Australia. Ultimately, they opted for the latter, as Australia was an English-speaking country.