John McCarty, a 56-year-old White male, met his end under mysterious circumstances in the wilderness near Payson, Arizona, on or around June 6, 1901. At the time, McCarty held the position of Arizona's Fish and Game Commissioner and was also a commissioned Deputy United States Marshal. He embarked on what would be his final hunting trip, venturing into the area of Miller's Canyon on the Mogollon Rim to collect animal specimens, including rare pigeons and squirrels, for the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, D.C. Having left his pregnant teenage wife with her grandparents, McCarty ventured into the remote landscape and was never seen alive again.
Weeks turned into months with no sign of the commissioner. It wasn't until August 19, 1901, that a search party discovered a body, later identified as McCarty's. Found near the remains was his shotgun, its barrel burst. This discovery led to the official conclusion that his death was accidental. The prevailing theory was that the shotgun malfunctioned as he was possibly stalking a bear, the explosion fatally injuring him in the face and leaving him vulnerable. An inquest held in Flagstaff officially ruled his death an accident, and his body was subsequently transported to Phoenix for burial.
Despite the official ruling, the circumstances surrounding McCarty's death were clouded by suspicion. Shortly before his last expedition, he had taken out six separate life insurance policies totaling $27,000, a very substantial sum at the time. This led the insurance companies to refuse payment on the policies, alleging fraud. They posited that McCarty might not be dead at all, and that his friends had conspired to plant a body to be found and identified as his. The matter escalated to a lawsuit filed by the legal guardian of McCarty's wife and their posthumously born child. Ultimately, the insurance companies, unable to produce McCarty alive, settled the claims. Nevertheless, rumors persisted for years that John McCarty had successfully staged his own death. No arrests were ever made, and no suspects were ever named in connection with his death. The area where his body was found was later named McCarty Ridge in his memory.
