Initially, Sharphead's followers were at Pigeon Lake but when the fisheries failed in 1883, they were induced to take a reserve on Wolf Creek, just south of the present town of Ponoka.
The Sharphead were devastated by hunger and disease and ceased to exist as a separate people after 1897 when their reserve lands were taken by the Canadian government and the few remaining survivors were dispersed to live with other neighbouring First Nations.
As surveyed in October 1885, the reserve had an area of 110 km2 (42.4 sq mi) along the Battle River and Wolf Creek, and included a Methodist mission.
The band was deemed to be extinct by the federal government and the reserve land was surrendered in 1897 and divided into homesteads for Euro-Canadian settlers.
The remains were taken by the University of Alberta's anthropology department for study until 1970 when they were put in storage because the then-owner of the land containing the burial site did not want them reinterred.