Frontier hermits’ dens blended domestic squalor with accumulations of books and weaponry.

Evidence

The den was dense with smoke, and very dark, littered with hay, old blankets, skins, bones, tins, logs, powder flasks, magazines, old books, old moccasins, horseshoes, and relics of all kinds. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 247

Categorization

• CANDY: A gunman’s cabin catalogued like a hoarder’s inventory — hay, bones, moccasins, powder flasks, and magazines under one roof.
• XREF: Feeds the reader’s interest in the material texture of pioneer dwellings and landscape-adjacent living.