“Lost in the Sandhills” tour remembering two little girls lost in the Sandhills May 10th, 1891 will take place Sunday, May 16th beginning Thedford and ending in Dunning.
Tillie and Retta Haumann were picking wildflowers on a Sunday afternoon when they became lost and drifted east though Thomas County and into Blaine County of central Nebraska. Communities came together to search for the girls. Retta age 4 was found alive the following Wednesday but sadly Tillie age 8 wasn’t found until a week later. She was approximately 26 miles from her family homestead but it was estimated that she had walked 75 miles up, down and around many hills during her journey.
Lunch will be offered by Prairie Feeds at the Thedford Legion Club and dessert at the Thedford Art Gallery prior to the tour.
At 1 pm by the Haumann girls historical marker on the Thomas County Courthouse square the story, with characters in role play, will give actual accounts of the time in those early days.
The tour will then travel east on Hwy 2 to Sandhills Drive located between Halsey and Dunning. There driving northeast 8 miles out into the Sandhills, roads will be marked.
On a high hill is a monument, in remembrance of Tillie, located near where her body was found.
Again in character role play will be presented by local volunteers.
The tour will then go to Dunning and gather at the Dunning Community Hall for a Heritage Road Show. Residents, from both Thomas & Blaine Counties, will have on display family heirloom items from early days. A recitation of the Kate Dunning poem “Lost in the Sandhills” presented by Miss Charlsie Teahon will conclude the afternoon.
This historic tour is funded in part by the Thomas County Visitors Committee in cooperation with the Thomas County Historical Society and The Sandhills Heritage Museum at Dunning.
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