This story is not necessarily one of the Civil War, or the gold-seekers that were darned near everywhere around the area, but rather one of the coming together and fighting for survival of a bunch of cattle ranchers that settled in and around the Cuchara Valley near La Veta, Colorado, while they went about fulfilling their dream of building an empire. However, with the influence of the war in the area being what it was, anyone would be hard-pressed to completely avoid the atrocities that were being committed by members of both sides.The collective partnership of homesteaders, who lived on and operated the cattle ranching outfit called 'The Spoon', were no exception.