Scotts Bluff National Monument, Gering, Nebraska Aug 31, 2025

Scotts Bluff National Monument, Gering, Nebraska

Long before GPS, natural landmarks like Scotts Bluff rose high above the prairie, signaling to travelers that they were on the right path heading west. Before Gering became a town in 1887 and decades before Nebraska achieved statehood in 1867, these sandstone and siltstone formations were already guiding thousands along the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails. Scotts Bluff National Monument is named after Hiram Scott, a fur trader with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company who died under mysterious circumstances nearby in the 1820s.

© Hawk Buckman/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Aug 31, 2018Let’s have a ball
Aug 31, 2019Walk the line
Aug 31, 2020At the shore of an inland sea
Aug 31, 2021Bridge over the River Tara
Aug 31, 2022Blue linckia sea stars in Papua New Guinea
Aug 31, 2023Saguaro cacti, Ironwood Forest National Monument, Arizona
Aug 31, 2024Tassili n’Ajjer, Sahara, Algeria

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jul 29, 2022International Tiger Day
Mar 26, 2026Logan Creek Suspension Bridge, West Coast Trail, Canada
Dec 6, 2024Finnish Independence Day
Jun 8, 2021A day for our oceans
Sep 10, 2023Grandparents Day
Jan 14, 2020Going head-to-head with winter
Mar 19, 2018Sanxiantai Dragon Bridge in Taitung, Taiwan
Aug 7, 2018Guiding ships to safety
Jun 30, 2018The aftermath of a meteorite
Jun 21, 2024World Giraffe Day
May 28, 2019Why’s it called a spelling ‘bee,’ anyhow?
Jun 29, 2021An island hopper s paradise
Jul 21, 2021An octagonal architectural treasure
May 5, 2024Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Mar 28, 2026African buffalo, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Apr 3, 2019Dark skies over New Mexico
Mar 29, 2025Superbloom in Carrizo Plain National Monument, California
Dec 4, 2025International Cheetah Day
Sep 9, 2022Belize Barrier Reef
Oct 30, 2023Common raven
Aug 18, 2024Huntington Beach Pier, California, at sunset
Jun 19, 2020Celebrating freedom
Apr 30, 2025International Jazz Day
Nov 15, 2022River otters at Acadia National Park, Maine
Sep 12, 2024World Dolphin Day
Jun 9, 2018Yarn bombing in the village of Gurnard, England
Jun 14, 2020Celebrating Flag Day
Jun 1, 2020The largest living organism on Earth
Jul 12, 2018Provence blooms with lavender at Sénanque Abbey
Apr 2, 2022Whangārei Falls in New Zealand