Will L. Wright was a fearless, colorful, and cultured man whose honesty and diplomacy often prevented bloodshed. He served as a Wilson County deputy sheriff in the 1890s, in the Frontier Battalion of the Texas Rangers, and as sheriff of Wilson County from 1902 to 1917. At the request of the Texas adjutant-general, he organized and commanded Company D of the Texas Rangers from 1918 to 1939, gaining great fame along the Rio Grande. He married Mary Ann Brown, and their seven children included two who became law officers.