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:

Dec 1, 2019Southern lights for Antarctica Day
Nov 30, 2025Christmas market in Leipzig, Germany
Jul 1, 2024Canada Day
Mar 11, 2026Peach trees in Cieza, Murcia, Spain
May 2, 2022Pamukkale, Turkey
Dec 7, 2021Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
Mar 26, 2020Gray days ahead in Monterey
Jun 22, 2018Celebrating Take Your Dog to Work Day
Oct 16, 2022Prince Christian Sound in southern Greenland
May 13, 2019In praise of bogs, swamps, and marshes
Nov 29, 2019Opt outside today
May 30, 2020Meandering through Patagonia
Aug 4, 2024Friendship Day
Mar 18, 2018Christmas Tree Point Road and Twin Peaks, San Francisco
Dec 21, 2018Paper lanterns on the longest night
Apr 30, 2026Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse, Netherlands
Mar 16, 2022Panda Day
Apr 16, 2023Go Fly a Kite Day
Mar 30, 2026Demoiselle cranes, India
Aug 14, 2018Combating extinction with citizen science
Jan 15, 2019A personal collection becomes an institution
Aug 18, 2023Avatar Mountains, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China
Apr 21, 2023Procida, Italy
Sep 13, 2018They’re grrrape!
Feb 10, 2022The Old City of Bern
Feb 25, 2026Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska
Jan 14, 2025Village of Zahara de la Sierra, Cadiz, Spain
Oct 30, 2023Common raven
May 19, 2025Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California
Sep 18, 2025Dunquin Pier, County Kerry, Ireland