At =4 m.= on ND 40 is a junction with a second improved road; L. here to the TRUAX-TRAER LIGNITE STRIP MINE, =4.5 m.=, the oldest strip mine in North Dakota. The big shovels which have been stripping the earth overburden since 1919 have piled ridges of earth so vast that they resemble miniature mountains. The eight-cubic-yard shovel saw service in the construction of the Panama Canal. It is supplemented by another of four-cubic-yard capacity. About 150,000 tons of coal are taken out annually. Huddled on a small piece of unbroken ground between the artificial buttes are the frame homes and store buildings of the little community of miners. At =273 m.= is the junction with a graveled spur. Left on this road is LARSON, =0.5 m.= (1,931 alt., 89 pop.), a small Scandinavian town, named for the first postmaster of Columbus. West of Larson the route ascends the hills of the Missouri Plateau. At =278 m.= is the junction with a graveled road. Left on this road to the BAUKOL-NOONAN COAL MINE, =1 m.=, third largest lignite strip mine in the State. The mining operations cover an area of 1,040 acres adjacent to the town of Noonan, and the lignite vein, which lies beneath a 30-foot overburden, averages 7 to 9 ft. in thickness. The huge, molehill-like hummocks of earth tossed up by the giant steam shovels spread fanwise from a central, electrically operated tipple. Loading and screening facilities at the tipple permit the filling of four cars at the same time, each with a different grade of coal. The daily output of the mine, which runs full time during the fall and winter months, is approximately 100 cars. During the 1935-36 season more than 170,000 tons of coal were taken out. NOONAN, =279 m.= (1,959 alt., 423 pop.), named for an early settler, has its white buildings scattered over the northern slope of a small hill. When the town was platted in 1906, contracts stipulated that buildings should be painted white in order that the community might live up to its advertised name of the _White City_. CROSBY, =292.5 m.= (1,962 alt., 1,271 pop.), dominated by the dome of the Divide County Courthouse at the northern end of Main St., was named for a member of the town site company of Portal (_see Tour 7_). It sprang up at the junction of the Soo and G. N. branch lines, a strategic rail position that soon established it as a focal point for trade in the northwestern corner of the State. Straight ahead (N) from the fairgrounds on a graveled road to the CROSBY CITY RECREATION PARK (_swimming pool_, _golf course_, _tennis and horseshoe courts_, _ski jump_, _camping ground_), =5 m.=, developed along the Canadian border. At =301.5 m.= is a junction with US 85 (_see Tour 4_), which unites with ND 5 to =311 m.=