William Gray was born in Scotland near Glasgow on Oct. 2, 1883. He graduated as an engineer and served in the South African (Boer) War before coming to Canada in 1905.

He joined the North West Mounted Police at Prince Albert and trained at Regina. He came to Humboldt in 1910 where he worked for 18 continuous years until he was transferred to Biggar.

He did not actually patrol Humboldt which was policed by John Adams who was employed by the Town. Sgt. Gray's large area included Wadena on the east, Lockwood in the south, Prud'homme to the west and Cudworth in the north.

He volunteered to go to the coronation of King George V in England in 1911. Several other NWMP and William travelled by ship to England and took along their horses.

William Gray married Rosa Haensgen of Muenster in 1912 and they lived at the detachment on 9th Street.

Father James and his brother, John Gray, recalled that their father did a lot of search and destroy raids on homebrew hideaways.

Sgt. Gray was known for his love of horses and was perhaps better known for his dislike of cars. When the first patrol car was issued to him he would not drive it. For a short time in Humboldt he had a car and his drivers were Louis Steeg, John Adams and Louis Dust.

Sgt. Gray received four medals during his 28 years in the force. He retired when he was 50 years old rather than take a desk job in Ottawa. He and Mrs. Gray lived on a farm in the Muenster district until his death in 1959.

Sgt. Gray's uniform is currently displayed at he Humboldt and District Museum and Gallery.