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

Scotts Bluff National Monument, Gering, Nebraska, United States

Long before GPS, natural landmarks like Scotts Bluff in Nebraska, United States, rose high above the prairie, signaling to travellers 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 30, 2023International Whale Shark Day
How sweet to be a star, floating in the blue.
31 Aug 2024Rocks and sand in the Sahara, Algeria

More Desktop Wallpapers:

13 Oct 2024Royal Alcázar of Seville, Spain
16 Mar 2024Giant panda
11 Jan 2024Eurasian lynx
Towering trees of Tuscany
19 Apr 2024Ring of Brodgar, Orkney, Scotland
4 Jul 2024Italica, an old Roman city in Santiponce, Andalusia, Spain
22 Aug 2024Ocean City, Maryland, USA
22 Sep 2025Autumn equinox
Black sands in a tropical paradise
30 Aug 2024International Whale Shark Day
11 Jun 2024Gemsboks in the savannah, Botswana
23 Apr 2024Saint Georges Day
30 Jun 2024Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
17 Dec 2023Bohemian waxwings
A time-worn mediaeval marvel
11 Jul 2024World Population Day
23 Nov 2025Fibonacci Day
25 Sep 2023Sea otters
Hovering over harmonious horticulture
7 Jan 2024Great Staple Tor, Dartmoor National Park
18 Feb 2025The Great Blue Hole, Belize
Where Asia meets Europe
Where did you drop the fish, son?
Tis the season for travel
Just a pinch
History awaits atop the hill
15 Apr 2025World Art Day
26 Jan 2026Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany
13 Oct 2023Vieste, Apulia, Italy
11 Jul 2025World Population Day