This Week in Texas Prison History

June 8:

• 1963 Darrington Unit - Warden Bobby B. (Dub) Bullard dies of a heart attack while on horseback searching for escaped convicts Robert Emanuel Kirby and Billy D. Simmons. Kirby was captured shortly after Bullard's death and Simmons had been caught earlier. Bullard was 51 years old and was a thirty-year veteran of the prison system. As a 22-year old guard in the fields of Eastham State Farm, Bullard held his ground against the raid by the Barrow gang and single handedly returned 97 convicts to their cells. Bobby Bullard had been warden at the Darrington Unit since January 31, 1953. He had been the assistant warden at the near Ramsey Unit before his appointment at Darrington. He had also worked on the Central and Blue Ridge farms.