The site was first settled in December 1859 as part of a southern Utah cotton-growing project ordered by Brigham Young ( see Utah 's Dixie ) . A group from Virgin led by Nathan Tenney established a new settlement they called Wheeler . Wheeler did n't last long ; it was largely destroyed on the night of January 8 , 1862 by a weeks-long flood of the Virgin River , part of the Great Flood of 1862 . The rebuilt town , about a mile upriver , was named New Grafton , after Grafton , Massachusetts
Great Flood of 1862
Great Flood of 1862
Grafton, Utah