As an important stagecoach stop on the McKenzie River, the community at the intersection of the McKenzie River Wagon Road and Gate Creek needed a name. The first post office was established in 1874 naming the area Gate Creek, but this caused some confusion through the years with the town Gales Creek in Washington County. To solve this problem, Francis A. Pepiot, postmaster at the time, named the town after his six-year-old daughter Vida. On April 12th, 1898, Vida, Oregon, was officially established