The romanticized and glorified depiction of the massacre of Lt. Colonel Custer's 7th Regiment of Cavalry in Little Bighorn, Montana at the hands of the united Lakota and Cheyenne tribes incensed the U.S. public opinion and prompted the U.S. federal government to pursue a much more aggressive campaign against Native Americans in the West. As great numbers of U.S. Army troops were ordered to actively chase and force Native Americans to surrender and agree to be sent to reservations and the populations of buffaloes (the main source of food and other supplies for Native Americans) dwindled as irrestrictive hunting was allowed, life became more difficult for Native Americans. A group led by Crazy Hose traveled as far as Canada fleeing from the federal troops, but it was forced to return to U.S. soil because of a lack of food and the crude winter conditions. As this group surrendered to the federal government and had no choice but accepting internment in a reservation, the Plains Wars came to an end.
