What is the importance of Sutler's Tavern in the novel, Wolves of Eden?

The sutler's tavern and brothel exists outside the walls of Fort Phil Kearny. it is the location of the inciting incident of the novel's conflict, the murder of the sutler, his wife, and their servant. The tavern is a place where soldiers would frequently come to spend their wages on whiskey and women, even though Colonel Carrington forbid it. A cuckoo clock chimes the hours and a fireplace keeps the interior warm. After the sutler's death, the tavern becomes uninhabited as the prostitutes all leave or find other work. At once a place of revelry and violence, the tavern embodies both ends of life on the frontier for soldiers at Fort Phil Kearny.