William Thomas Sharp (May 30, 1838 – November 26, 1929) was a former Confederate soldier and later an explorer who operated a trading post on the Taos Trail and founded the now extinct town of Malachite, Colorado.

[1][2] Sharp was a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War,[3] serving under Major General Sterling Price.

[4] Beginning with a trip Pikes Peak in 1859, and sandwiched around his service during the Civil War, Sharp traveled across the American West and British Columbia until 1868.

By 1867, he was in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he supplied telegraph poles to the Union Pacific Railroad and was a deputy sheriff.

Sharp traded with the Utes, who liked the "flashy" military uniforms that he imported from Union Army and English warehouses.

[3] Chief Ouray and his wife Chipeta were regular visitors, who had their winter camped near the post and along Huerfano River and had close relationships with family members.

[1][3] European settlers also used the Trapper's Trail to travel through Sangre de Cristo Pass to the San Luis Valley and Taos, New Mexico.

He began to import purebred horses from France, England, and Kentucky to cross-breed with "rugged" ponies that had been owned by Native Americans.