Scotts Bluff, once thought to be the tallest point in Nebraska, rises from the plains more than 800 feet above the North Platte River and has long drawn hunters, explorers, emigrants, traders, and vacationers. For travelers from the east, it offered welcome visual relief from the monotony of the plains. Named for Hiram Scott, a fur trader who died near its base in 1828, the bluffs are remnants of a higher plain left behind after rivers carried away soft sedimentary stone that wind, water, and humans continue to erode. Their exposed faces reveal layers of sandstone, siltstone, Brule clay, volcanic ash, and limestone concretions that show the area's geologic processes. Chimney Rock, visible 23 miles to the east and formed from the same layers, lacks the limestone capstone found here. Pioneer diarists mentioned Chimney Rock more often, but Scotts Bluff was also a major landmark, likely because of its size and its position beside the river, where it forced wagon trains to divert south. Broad public access to this view came mainly in the 20th century after Scotts Bluff National Monument was established in 1919 and local residents pressed for easier access to the top. Early improvements included the Scout, or Zig-Zag, Trail and a picnic area on the east side, and in 1931 the Park Service approved a summit road. During the Depression, program enrollees dug tunnels and graded the road and parking area, while young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps planted trees, sodded roadsides, built a picnic area in Mitchell Pass, and constructed many of the park's adobe structures.