German-Canadian history in British Columbia began with the onset of the Fraser Gold Rush in 1858, when Germans, Austrians, Swiss Germans and other German-ethnic men arrived in British Columbia en masse as part of the migration to the new Colony of British Columbia from the California goldfields. Many notable figures in that gold rush and the subsequent Cariboo Gold Rush and other British Columbia gold rushes, with many staying on and settling, including many who founded ranches such as the between Oliver and Keremeos. Like the rest of the province, Greater Vancouver has had historic immigration from Germany.