Jeff Kidder

Jeff Kidder (November 15, 1875 - April 5, 1908) was an American lawman in the closing days of the American Old West. He was most noted for his service with the Arizona Rangers.

Jefferson David Kidder was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. His father, Silas W. Kidder (1847-1920), who was from a prominent Vermont family, had settled in South Dakota during 1868. His grandfather, Jefferson P. Kidder, had served as the Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and later served on the South Dakota Supreme Court and in the U.S. House of Representatives. His uncle, Lyman S. Kidder (1842-1867), became an officer in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (United States) and served under George Custer. He and his detachment were killed in July 1867, in an event that became known as the Kidder Massacre.

Jeff Kidder attended the University of South Dakota where he studied algebra, language and composition. In 1901, Jeff Kidder's family moved to California. That same year, the Arizona Rangers were formed, and Kidder ventured southwest to join them. He took several jobs in between, including working as a cowboy, miner, and lawman in Nogales, Arizona until he was hired by the Rangers in 1903. Kidder quickly became known within the Rangers as a marksman, second only to Captain Harry C. Wheeler. Arizona Ranger Captain Tom Rynning would later claim that he never saw any man faster with a gun on a quick draw.

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