Oliver is a town near the south end of the Okanagan Valley in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, with a population of nearly 5,000 people. It is located along the Okanagan River by Tuc-el-nuit Lake between Osoyoos and Okanagan Falls, and is labelled as the Wine Capital of Canada by Tourism British Columbia. It was once "The Home of the Cantaloupe" as well as the "Home of the International Horseshow." The community of Oliver is made up of land governed by three different bodies: the Town of Oliver, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and the Osoyoos Indian Band. Local industries include grape and fruit production, agri-tourism, wine production, ranching, golfing and recreation, retail and service trades. Some of the largest employers include Osoyoos Indian Band, School District #53, Interior Health and Okanagan Tree Fruit Cooperative. Origin of name Named after John Oliver (1856–1927), Premier of British Columbia. "Honest John" and his government brought irrigation water and settlement lots to the area with the South Okanagan Lands Project. The name of the area of this locality in the native Okanagan language is N̓k̓mip. History The people of the Syilx Okanagan Nation have lived in the South Okanagan for hundreds if not thousands of years and traditionally moved throughout their large territory to follow seasonal food resources. Many of their camps and village sites were on the shores of the lakes and glacial benches throughout the area. They relied on the river, creeks and valley lakes of the Southern Okanagan for their daily lives. The first encroachment from European immigrants came circa 1811, when fur traders came to the area with the establishment of Fort Okanagan (now in the US) and first explored the area for trade. In the 1880s, free gold-bearing quartz was found at Camp McKinney (east of Oliver) which became a busy gold mine, attracting miners and merchants, and boasting a public transportation system. Fairview (just west of Oliver) miners found gold and fueled the growth of a boomtown but it lasted just a few years and no remnants of the town survive today, other than a heritage marker. Established in 1921, Oliver began as a settlement for unemployed veterans of the First World War as part of the Soldier Settlement Act of 1917. A gravity-fed canal was constructed to provide irrigation to the semi-arid area. On January 30, 1919, the South Okanagan Lands Project (SOLP) began