There were other men on Reno Hill who claimed that they, too, had gone for water on the 26th of June. One, Pvt Slaper said that he had gone for water but had never been notified that he had been awarded the Medal of Honor. His name is not on any of the "official" listings of the men who participated in the water detail. Slaper also mentions a Jim Weeks as one of the men in his group, another name that does not show up on the water detail roster. How could this be? Was he fabricating his participation just to call some attention to himself? Maybe not. Pvt. Windolph in his memoirs claims that Pvt. Slaper had done some act of bravery deserving of a medal, but did not specifically state that Slaper had participated in the water detail. Also, the name of Sgt. Mike Madden comes up as another of the wounded in the water detail. He was shot in the leg and underwent a field amputation by Dr. Porter. Finally, the name of J.J. Tanner of M Troop comes up in some accounts as the only man killed during the water detail. Most accounts, however, state that no men were killed during the quest for water. How could this be?

As one reads the many accounts of the water situation on that day, one finds that there may have been more than one movement to get water. In Brininstool's interview with Slaper, there is a suggestion that there were two water details: the first a mad dash to the river without the aid of sharpshooters and the second with sharpshooters was the official one. Slaper includes himself, perhaps in error, in the second detail. Perhaps Sgt Madden was wounded while a participant of the first detail. According to Kuhlman(Legend Into History- p. 136), Tanner was killed by Indian crossfire and his body was later found on the banks of the river in the area where the water detail operated. In Hammer's "Little Big Horn Biographies," it is stated that Tanner was killed in the Benteen charge that took place before the water detail.

Another interesting account of water gathering comes from the Indian account given to Grinnell and mentioned in the "Fighting Cheyennes." A soldier stripped to his underwear rand down the ravine with a cup in one hand and a canteen in the other and threw himself face down at the edge of the river and spent some time filling the canteen and drinking from the cup. He was under constant fire from the Indians, but was never hit. He later got up and returned to the top of the hill unharmed. An article from "Winners of the West" dated June 24, 1926 describes such an incident and names William Nugent of Troop A as the person involved.

To put this in perspective, thirst must have driven ordinary men to new heights of bravery. There might have been one or more unorganized and possibly unauthorized attempts to get water from the river. This is why so many names arise as being participants outside of the "official" list of water detail members.