Dorman post office was established in the southern part of what was then Umatilla County, probably not far from Ukiah, on October 3, 1887, and named for James W. Dorman, the first postmaster. The subsequent history of this post office is not clear. The name was changed to Dale on November 11, 1891, but whether the office was moved at that time is not certain. In any event, the office was shown on the Grant County list in 1903 with the name Dale. The compiler has been to Dale several times and finds it hard to fit the name to the geography, although the man who selected the word may not have had the same difficulty. This part of Oregon is deeply cut by canyons, and it does not seem that the name Dale describes them very accurately. The name Dale as applied to this locality may have had a significance other than topographic.