A strict no-alcohol rule let a ranch house keep twelve rowdy freighters quiet.

Evidence

The ranchman neither allows drink to be brought into the house nor to be drunk outside, and on this condition only he “keeps travelers.” The freighters come in to supper quite well washed, and though twelve of them slept in the kitchen, by nine o’clock there was not a sound. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 200

Categorization

• CANDY: Twelve teamsters in one kitchen, silent by nine o’clock because the host banned liquor — an elevator-ready frontier anecdote.
• STORYSTEM: A house rule as narrative engine: the no-drink condition creates instant tension when a tested boundary appears.