May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month . Wells Fargo is big on diversity—it's a prime component of the company's mission and goals. So we celebrate all the heritage months on the calendar. We historians are busy providing stories and images that reflect Wells Fargo's long history of commerce with the huge, trans-Pacific world.

The celebrated California Gold Rush  of 1848 and '49 brought gold seekers from all over the world. Many people came from China and remained in California, and then moved all over the place as time passed. Chinese Americans  in California have a historical foothold, pre-dating the great immigration waves  of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that millions of Americans point to as their own origins.

People from Japan  and the Philippine Islands  made their way to the West Coast in the late 19th century. They made an impact on agriculture and established thriving neighborhoods in cities. People from Southeast Asia made their way to the United States after America's Indochina conflict ended in the 1970s. Laotians , Vietnamese , Cambodians  and Thai  settled in cities and expanded everywhere.

Everywhere you go, there are people of Asian heritage enriching the place. Their historical presence demonstrates their long interaction with the continental U.S. People rarely "just show up"—they have commerce and travel and family relationships across territories. When Wells Fargo started business in 1852, the Chinese were already in California and were a dependable clientele. It was in Wells Fargo's best interests to encourage their business. Commerce with Japan opened a couple years later, and Wells Fargo established offices there in quick order.

Wells Fargo was forward-looking in its outreach, but Pacific Rim business was already an established fact by the 1850s. From New York, Wells and Fargo wanted to get a piece of the business action in the American West, which was more than just gold. San Francisco was a booming world center where North America, Latin America and Asia met. Wells Fargo enjoys a heritage of being in a key place at a key time when the world expanded. That expansion, and Wells Fargo, have continued.