Safford attended Wagner College on a baseball scholarship where he majored in history and music, receiving his A.B.
[1] Safford published over 25 professional articles and several books during his time employed at the university, including "The Montana Livestock Industry through Oral History" and The Mechanics of Optimism: Mining Companies, Technology, and the Hot Spring Gold Rush, Montana Territory, 1864-1868.
[3] Beginning in the 1980s, Safford started researching the history of Red Bluff, Montana, a former mining town.
In later years, Safford worked on preserving the historic stone structure in Red Bluff that was subsumed as part of Montana State University's Agricultural Research Station.
[1] Upon Safford's death in 2021, the majority of his research materials on Red Bluff and his notes, correspondence, and plans for the many music symposiums he worked on were transferred to the Montana State University Archives and Special Collections.
Safford met his wife June (née Billings) while attending Wagner College, and they married on December 22, 1957.
He was also involved in Bozeman Symphonic Choir with his wife June for over 25 years, and participated in Berkshire Choral Festivals in New Mexico, Massachusetts, and Austria.