The highway sweeps through rolling fields of pioneer-type farms. Through the 1940s, near the forested hills remained large stump areas. The countryside becomes wilder and more desolate there. Growths of vine and brush line the road and stretch away toward the scarred hills. Vader is a farming community and rail point on Olequa Creek.

Northern Pacific Railway officials changed the town’s original name, Little Falls, to Sopenah because of the confusion with Little Falls, Minnesota. Locals who disliked the name petitioned the legislature to change the name to Toronto. A dispute resulted, with a compromise agreement to name the town for a German resident named Vader.