A Complete Biography of Jeff Kidder

 The life and death of an Arizona Ranger.

By: Nancy P. Allan ,Randy Johnson 11/03/2009

Author's Note:

I first heard of Jeff Kidder while doing research on his uncle, Lt. Lyman S. Kidder. Lieutenant Kidder had survived the Civil War only to die at the hands of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors in July 1867, while serving in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry. He and his little command of 10 troopers were ambushed while attempting to deliver a change of orders to Lt. Col. George A. Custer, field commander of the 7th U.S. Cavalry. Their mutilated remains were discovered and buried by Custer's command near present-day Goodland, Kansas.

I had traveled to San Jacinto, California, to meet with Lt. Kidder's grandniece, Carol Woolfolk, who informed me of Jeff Kidder and his exploits. It seemed their Arizona Ranger relative held more of a fascination with the family than my Lt. Kidder did.

I found the Kidder family had a very intriguing history, but one that was filled with tragedy.

—Randy Johnson

 

 

 


Jefferson Parish Kidder was born on November 15, 1875 in Vermilion, South Dakota, and led a somewhat privileged life in his earliest years. From this beginning it was hard to conceive he would die in a gun battle on the streets of a small border town in Mexico. Jeff's grandfather and namesake was Judge Jefferson P. Kidder. He had served in Vermont's legislature and also held the position of lieutenant governor.

He and his wife Mary Ann raised three children: Marion, born in 1839; Lyman, born in 1842; and Jeff's father, Silas, born in 1847. In 1857 Judge Kidder moved his family to St. Paul, Minnesota where he practiced law and was nominated as a delegate to Congress in 1859, but was not elected.

In 1864 the Kidder family moved to Vermilion, Dakota Territory, after Judge Kidder was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Dakota Territory by President Lincoln. Here, he purchased a large farm where he and his family lived, which would become Jeff Kidder's birthplace.

Shortly after the violent death of his son Lyman in 1867, at the hands of hostile Indians, the Judge's daughter Marion died. The family's future was now pinned on their only surviving child, Silas. In October of 1874, Silas Kidder married Ada Campbell. This union produced four children, but only two lived until adulthood: Jefferson Parish, born in 1875, and Lulu Marion, born in 1885. Judge Kidder died in October of 1883 after a botched surgery to remove bladder stones. Silas Kidder followed in his father's footsteps, serving as Justice of the Peace and Mayor of Vermilion, and in 1889 he was appointed Postmaster of Vermilion by President Harris.

Jeff and his sister Lulu grew up on the family farm, northwest of town. For a time Jeff worked as a postal clerk with his father after graduating from Vermilion High School.

When Silas Kidder's health began to fail him in 1901, the family decided to move to California where they hoped the warm dry air would help him recover. They settled in the town of San Jacinto, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

Shortly after arriving in California Jeff Kidder began seeing newspaper accounts of the exploits of the newly formed Arizona Rangers. While growing up he had heard stories of the old West, which included the heroic death of the uncle he had never known.

By the turn of the 20th century, the Wild West was coming to an end. Indian conflicts gave way to cattle rustlers, horse thieves and bank robbers. This seemed to run rampant along the Arizona Mexican border where outlaws could slip across into Mexico and disappear until the heat of the law died down. To help quell this problem in Arizona, the idea to form a Ranger Company was suggested by government officials there. In August of 1901 Governor Murphy put in motion legislation that would help create a Ranger force. He chose 34-year-old Burt Mossman to serve at the helm of the mobile strike force and gave him the rank of Captain. Their headquarters would be located in Bisbee, about eight miles north of the Mexican border. Mossman had been in the cattle business for many years, and had a few run ins with cattle rustlers himself and had tracked-them down and recovered his stock. He was fearless and a born leader of men. Mossman needed men who were used to the outdoor life and could ride and shoot. In a short period of time he had thirteen men recruited to form his new Ranger force. These men were armed with model 1895.30-.40 Winchester rifles and a Colt .45 single-action revolver. The cost of these weapons came out of their $100-per month pay.

In 1903, the Arizona Legislative Assembly passed an act doubling the size of the Rangers. By then, Burt Mossman had resigned his commission and had been replaced by Thomas Rynning. Captain Rynning was a former Army officer and Rough Rider who had served with Teddy Roosevelt. In October of 1902 Rynning moved the Ranger headquarters to Douglas, a town full of smugglers, gamblers and assorted hoodlums in order to clean that element out and make it a safe place to live. In about this same time period, Jeff Kidder decided to set' his sights on becoming a Ranger and began to train himself for the job. He acquired a Colt .45 and a Winchester rifle. It was said that from then on he did nothing except practice every day, drawing and firing his six-gun. Within a year he had spent over $4,000 on cartridges alone, but had made his reputation as a crack shot.

Kidder traveled to Arizona in early 1902 and worked briefly as a ranch hand before landing a job as a peace officer in Nogales.

 
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

View as a single page.

Post A Comment