Geological History of Scotts Bluff National Monument

Conservation and Survey Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources

This is No. 3 in the University of Nebrasks-Lincoln's Conservation and Survey Division Educational Circular series. Scoffs Bluff National Monument, located in central Scoffs Bluff County, has an area of 3,084 acres (1,250 hectares). Established by act of Congress in 1919, it is one of three national monuments in Nebraska. The bluff—like those forming nearby Chimney Rock, Courthouse Rock, and Jail Rock—is an erosional outlier of Wildcat Ridge (fig. 1) and was an important landmark along the Mormon Trail and the Oregon Trail. Historians estimate that more than 250,000 pioneers passed Scoffs Bluff on their trek to Utah or the Pacific Northwest. Most stopped to rest there and many climbed to the top of the bluff to view the terrain ahead. Scoffs Bluff is named for Captain Hiram Scott, whose skeleton was found at the base of the bluff in 1828. According to legend, Scott was traveling eastward when he fell ill near the junction of the Laramie and North Platte rivers in western Goshen County, Wyoming. His companions, who abandoned him, reported that he had died and was buried there. Actually, however, he survived long enough to walk or crawl 60 miles (97 km) to the spring at the foot of the bluff that now bears his name. This guidebook provides a description of the rocks exposed at the monument, an interpretation of the view from the North Overlook, an explanation of interesting rock features at viewing points along the hiking trails, and a summary of the geologic history of the area. The authors intend for this descriptive material to serve as a substitute for a personal tour guide and they hope that it will provide the visitor a better understanding and appreciation of the monument.