Traversing the northern part of the Missouri Slope, this route passes through what was ranch land, now used for diversified farming. Most of the land adjacent to the route is underlain with deposits of lignite, and on many farms the winter's fuel is easily obtained by a little digging. Dominating the general rolling terrain are jagged, mesa-like hills capped with brown sandstone formations. Gentle, grass-covered slopes, whose rich spring green turns to amber in the fall, rise to steeper hillsides, above which jumbled, broken, weathered rocks lead to the steep cliffs crowning the flat mesas. Trees are few along this route, except for the tiny groves on occasional farms, and the woods and bushes that edge the Cannonball River and its tributary creeks. ND 21 branches E. from US 85 (_see Tour 4_), 23.5 m. S. of Belfield (_see Tour 8_). Dominating the landscape immediately E. of the junction are the two high, flat-topped, coffin-shaped RAINY BUTTES (R). At =6 m.= the highway passes 2 m. N. of West Rainy Butte, and at =8 m.= passes East Rainy Butte, which appears to be only a short distance from the route, but actually is 6 m. S. The tops of these twin heights are sometimes clouded in a faint gray mist, and according to Indian lore they get rain at least once a day, despite the weather. Although this is an exaggeration, it is nearly true, for at times when warm currents of air strike the cold surface of the sides of the buttes the moisture in the air is condensed, resulting in fogs or mists that usually veil the heights. This phenomenon is also common to other buttes in this area. There are evidences of Indian burials on the Rainy Buttes. NEW ENGLAND, =14 m.= (2,593 alt., 911 pop.), its seven grain elevators standing like sentinels overlooking its level site N. of the Cannonball River, was founded in 1887. It was named and first settled by the New England Colony Association, an organization from the New England States headed by Thomas W. Bicknell (1834-1925), who was the author of several histories dealing with Rhode Island. Streets of the new town were laid out by plowing furrows in the prairie. Before the end of the first summer 50 families had arrived, but from 1888 to 1911, when the Milwaukee R. R. came in, New England was little more than a trading post. Although originally founded by New Englanders, today it is predominantly Scandinavian. ND 22 forms the main street, at the southern end of which, in St. Mary's Catholic schoolyard, is a SHRINE TO THE VIRGIN MARY, made of huge slabs of petrified woods, scoria, odd rock formations from the Badlands, and "cannonballs" (_see Side Tour 8C_) from the river. The shrine was built by school children. Midway between the two schools on Main St. is a modern, stuccoed MEMORIAL BUILDING, a community center completed under the Works Progress Administration in 1936. Between New England and =23 m.= ND 21 unites with ND 22. At =18 m.= is the junction with a graveled county road.