From 1948 to 1963, the town of Fortin Olmos in Northern Argentina was centered around the forestry company La Florestal. Following its closure, a group of priests from the Foucauld Brotherhood who had settled in the area years before decided to create a woodcutters' cooperative which helped its impoverished members buy public owned lands with their work. Physicians, school teachers and agronomists, some of whom were leftwingers, later joined the initiative and became players in this very particular political and cultural experience characterized by several incidents and two dictatorships.