In 1864 Nelson Higgins, a veteran of the Mormon Battalion, was selected as temporary president of the settlement. In 1865 Black Hawk and his band of Indians took ninety head of stock from nearby Salina, killing two settlers working in the canyon. Other attacks followed. For safety, about forty families from nearby Glenwood moved to Richfield. Three settlers, Jens Peter Petersen, his wife Amalia, and Mary Smith were killed by Indians between Richfield and Glenwood on 21 March 1867; this became a deciding factor in the evacuation of the settlement, which was completed by April. In 1871 many of the former settlers returned and took up their old homesteads. By July 1872 there were 150 families in the area. In March 1874 Bishop Williams Seegmiller reported 145 families, 172 men, and a total of 753 persons in Richfield. There were 117 children attending school.

In subsequent years, Richfield continued to grow with the development of businesses, hotels, restaurants, railroad service, and other amenities, reaching a population of 3,584 in 1947.