This research project explores the impacts of professional archaeology on private artifact collectors, and how understanding both domains is vital to furthering our knowledge of the past. Using the ethical framework laid out in the Society for American Archaeology 2018 Statement on Collaboration with Responsible and Responsive Stewards of the Past, this work aims to combine collaborative inquiry, archaeological ethnography, and fieldwork to partner with a private collector in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. The collection, alongside the narrative of this private collecting couple, provides an important cautionary tale to professionals seeking to better collaborative efforts with other responsible and responsive stewards of the past.