Bank of California

The Bank of California was opened in San Francisco, California, on July 4, 1864, by William Chapman Ralston. It was the first commercial bank in the Western United States, the second-richest bank in the nation, and considered instrumental in developing the American Old West.

The ancestor of the bank was the banking firm of Garrison, Morgan, Fretz & Ralston, established in San Francisco in January 1856 by a group that included Ralston, Cornelius K. Garrison and R.S. Fretz. Ralston established the Bank of California in 1864 when he sold shares to 22 of the state's leading businessmen for $100 a share. The bank opened on July 4, 1864, with Darius Ogden Mills as president and Ralston as cashier; Louis McLane was on the board of directors. A branch was opened in Gold Hill, Nevada, near Virginia City, on September 4, 1864.William Sharon was long the bank's Nevada agent.

Built of stone quarried on nearby Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, the Bank of California Building at the NW corner of California and Sansome streets in San Francisco was said to be "one of the handsomest structures on the coast …"

The Bank of California financed a number of mining operations of the , and repossessed some mines when their owners defaulted, and ultimately generated enormous profits as a result. However, Ralston sometimes lent money to mine owners in circumstances that would inevitably lead to default and repossession. At the height of their power, Ralston and his "Ring" (as his associates were known) were able to exert monopolistic influence over sections of commerce and industry in San Francisco and in Virginia City.

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