In addition to the lack of employment for many of those arriving at the Durst Ranch, living conditions for the temporary field hands were particularly abysmal. Workers lived in tents in the hot summer sun on a barren hillside, paying Durst 75 cents per week for the privilege as a rental fee. More workers were on hand than could be accommodated in these tents, however, forcing some to make do in the elements under crude structures constructed from poles and burlap sacks.