 In 1872 Cufulcurá and his 6,000 followers went across the pampas to attack the cities of General Alvear, Veinticinco de Mayo and Nueve de Julio, resulting in the deaths of 300 settlers and the loss of 200,000 head of cattle, which the Mapuche drove back to Chile.After this, Argentina organized its forces to launch what it called the Conquest of the Desert and attacked indigenous people for years.It is estimated that more than 5000 native peoples were killed or captured in that major assault, which was facilitated by the new Remington weapon arming the 6,000 Argentine soldiers (as stated by Gen. Ignacio Fotheringham) [Bodley p. 63, 72].