The San Luis Valley's - Old Spanish Trail Landform Sculpture was conceived as a way to mark the historic trail and highlight the cultures of the San Luis Valley, Colorado.

Mettje Swift, an artist from Del Norte, Colorado, conceived of the project and began by creating a proposal and identifying the participants. During the progress of the work, the project received funding from the Rio Grande County Tourism Board, the Forest Service and the Colorado Creative Industries.

Swift located the large sandstone scraps to be used and hired the local Gates Family to move the stones from the Old Stone Quarry to the sculpture site. The sculpture work began in 1999 and was to take 3 years working during the summer in the cool of the early morning. Mettje was joined by Ross Martin, a young sculptor from La Garita to help complete the sculpture.