Dail Butler was born near Medical Lake, Washington on February 26, 1900. Her mother died when she was three years old and her family moved to Renton, Washington. Her grandfather, James Wing Butler, farmed on the Whetstone and her other grandfather, Levi Watrous, had a saw mill operation on Jim Creek.

She married Cecil Laughery and moved to Dayton in 1923. His parents and all of his siblings lived in Dayton so they settled into life in Columbia County where they raised three boys and a girl.

One of Dail's passions was to write about the early history of Columbia County, some of the more colorful inhabitants and the Native Americans she met in her youth. Her grandfather Levi taught her some of the native language so she could communicate with the Cayuse and Palouse tribes.

Dail passed away in 1994 after spending most of her life in and around Columbia County.