In 1900, Dahl began at the State Normal School in Madison, Wisconsin, but the signs of tuberculosis prevented a future as a teacher.
She briefly attended St. Olaf College but starting during 1903 would spend her adult life in Kootenai County, near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
[3] Poor health thwarted her hopes of becoming a missionary, but she found consolation in taking part in temperance movement work.
Religious by nature, Dahl was active within Lutheran Church organizations, including Daughters of the Reformation and the Rocky Mountain Women's Missionary Federation.
Dahl showed a pragmatic attitude to the many questions of Norwegian American assimilation and she was an early advocate of the use of English as a church language.