The circumstances of his death have been described variously by different sources, and it is important to be precise about what is documented and what is uncertain.

He had been drinking the previous evening at a card game.

He was found face-down in a shallow irrigation ditch.

The official cause of death was listed as exposure and alcohol poisoning.

It was winter in the Arizona desert — cold at night, cold enough to be dangerous to a man who had passed out in the open.

The exact sequence of events that led to his death was not fully reconstructed and may not be reconstructable at this distance.

He was found on his reservation.