The town was settled in April 1883 by a group of Latter-day Saints from the failed Brigham City settlement.

Originally called "Adam's Valley", after founder (Jerome Jefferson Adams), the name was changed to "Wilford", President Wilford Woodruff, fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), at a quarterly stake conference in August 1883.

Milk, from the cattle, had a number of uses, and abundant crops consisting of corn, potatoes, wheat, squash, melons and popcorn could be traded for goods and services.

[2] In February 1885, the Edmunds Act led the LDS Church to counsel polygamists to move south to Mexico and build a city of refuge on the Casas Grandes River in Chihuahua.

The following year, non-Latter-day Saint families and Hashknife Cowboys began moving into the area, forever changing the atmosphere.

It was not unheard of, for residents returning home after a leave of absence, to find that Hashknife Cowboys had moved into their vacant cabin.