Desert Rainbow
Early settlers traveled in covered wagons across the hot, sandy deserts of the great Southwest, following the rainbow that would lead them to the place of their dreams. One early settler was Miss Francess Anne Cooper, who wrote in her diary: "One day I read a pamphlet written by a man who had been in California. His description of the beautiful flowers blooming in winter, of the great herds of Spanish cattle in lovely fields, of glorious scenery, and of the ideal climate and blue skies, made me just crazy to move out there, for I thought such a country must be a paradise. Mother thought so too, but father told us it was a dangerous trip and that Indians might kill all of us on the way. He had been a good ways west, hunting buffalo, and he knew something of the great stretches of plains. But we kept talking about California until father decided to put it to a family vote whether we should go or stay." In May of 1846, they started out, and in 1847 Miss Cooper became the first woman settler to be married in California.
Austrian crystal beads and crystal rhinestones, along with luster pearls and seed pearls detail this delicately-wired tiara. The band is flexible and 15 inches long, and covered with 8 inches of decorative detail. The total height is a little more than one inch. Arches of diamonds spring like a rainbow across delicate desert flowers, reminding us of the women who came west across the desert and the mighty mountains to make their homes beside the Pacific waters.
|
 |
