Krebs and Preston remained at Huntsville until 1883, when officials transferred a number of prisoners to a new state facility at Rusk, Texas. Many of the convicts at Rusk worked at the prison’s iron foundry making pipe and castings. Prison life was grim. Inmates worked long hours, enduring nauseating meals, brutal beatings, and sadistic guards. During this period the State of Texas leased prison operations to private companies. Some prisoners were forced to work in outside labor camps. The mortality rate in these camps was high. Numerous inmates died from the poor diet and long hours at hard labor. Others were shot trying to escape. Lifers, convicts with life sentences like Krebs and Preston, were kept inside the prison walls where they worked 10-12 hours a day.
