BANK OF CALIFORNIA and WILLIAM RALSTON - Revision history

Ccarlsson at 04:56, 27 May 2025

2025-05-27T04:56:29Z

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	[[category:Downtown]] [[category:1850s]] [[category:1860s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Power and Money]] [[category:Corporations]] [category:Reclaiming San Francisco]]		[[category:Downtown]] [[category:1850s]] [[category:1860s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Power and Money]] [[category:Corporations]] [[category:Reclaiming San Francisco]]

Ccarlsson: added photo and category

2025-05-27T04:55:52Z

added photo and category

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	''from "Pecuniary Emulation" in'' Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics and Culture, ''City Lights Books, 1998''		''from "Pecuniary Emulation" in'' Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics and Culture, ''City Lights Books, 1998''

			[[Image:Grand-Hotel,-1880s I0029137A.jpg\|800px]]

			'''Grand Hotel, 1880s, corner of New Montgomery and Market, just east of Ralston's Palace Hotel.'''

			''Photo: Online Archive of California, I0029137A''


	[[Pier 7 \|Prev. Document]] [[The Ferry Building \| Next Document]]		[[Pier 7 \|Prev. Document]] [[The Ferry Building \| Next Document]]

	[[category:Downtown]] [[category:1850s]] [[category:1860s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Power and Money]] [[category:Corporations]]		[[category:Downtown]] [[category:1850s]] [[category:1860s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Power and Money]] [[category:Corporations]] [category:Reclaiming San Francisco]]

Ccarlsson: added category corporations

2017-03-02T06:00:03Z

added category corporations

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:00, 1 March 2017
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Ccarlsson: added photo and links

2016-09-06T05:51:23Z

added photo and links

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:51, 5 September 2016
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	''Photo: Chris Carlsson''		''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

	From the moment he arrived in San Francisco in 1854, William Ralston was a leading player in the high-stakes game of Western exploitation. In a land whose abundant resources had scarcely been scraped and whose real estate values climbed with each new immigrant, the future belonged to the ruthless and to the lawyers who wrote the rules of the game for them. They were frequently the same.		From the moment he arrived in San Francisco in 1854, [[William Ralston\|William Ralston]] was a leading player in the high-stakes game of Western exploitation. In a land whose abundant resources had scarcely been scraped and whose real estate values climbed with each new immigrant, the future belonged to the ruthless and to the lawyers who wrote the rules of the game for them. They were frequently the same.

	Ralston dabbled in a number of schemes before finding his lode. Some things like helping to finance the takeover of Nicaragua by soldier of fortune William Walker just did not pay off. It was to the Comstock Lode south of present-day Reno that "Billy" Ralston hitched his star soon after its discovery in 1859. Five years later, he was treasurer or director of most of the bonanza mines. In that year, Congress admitted Nevada into the Union as San Francisco's most lucrative colony, a state commonly known as the nation's "great rotten borough."		Ralston dabbled in a number of schemes before finding his lode. Some things like helping to finance the takeover of Nicaragua by soldier of fortune William Walker just did not pay off. It was to the Comstock Lode south of present-day Reno that "Billy" Ralston hitched his star soon after its discovery in 1859. Five years later, he was treasurer or director of most of the bonanza mines. In that year, Congress admitted Nevada into the Union as San Francisco's most lucrative colony, a state commonly known as the nation's "great rotten borough."
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	During the silver boom of the 1870s, San Francisco's Montgomery Street became known as the Wall Street of the West. Just as Manhattan's Wall Street dead ends at Broadway, so did Montgomery stop cold at Market. Ralston had plans to extend Montgomery's high-value real estate to potentially valuable land which he owned south of Market. Such an extension would require cutting through city blocks and leveling a hill on which his fellow magnates had built their mansions. No matter how powerful Ralston was, equally determined plutocrats who were not in on the deal blocked his New Montgomery Street two blocks south of Market, and that presented problems.		During the silver boom of the 1870s, San Francisco's Montgomery Street became known as the Wall Street of the West. Just as Manhattan's Wall Street dead ends at Broadway, so did Montgomery stop cold at Market. Ralston had plans to extend Montgomery's high-value real estate to potentially valuable land which he owned south of Market. Such an extension would require cutting through city blocks and leveling a hill on which his fellow magnates had built their mansions. No matter how powerful Ralston was, equally determined plutocrats who were not in on the deal blocked his New Montgomery Street two blocks south of Market, and that presented problems.

	As Ralston's other investments turned rancid, the banker needed the lots he owned along New Montgomery to appreciate as planned. To attract investors to his land, he first built a million-dollar hotel called The Grand on the east corner of Market and New Montgomery. When that failed to work, he began The Palace on the western block.		As Ralston's other investments turned rancid, the banker needed the lots he owned along New Montgomery to appreciate as planned. To attract investors to his land, he first built a million-dollar hotel called The Grand on the east corner of Market and New Montgomery. When that failed to work, he began [[Palace Hotel\|The Palace]] on the western block.

			[[Image:Grand-and-Palace-Hotels FID394.jpg]]

			'''The Grand Hotel (left) and the Palace Hotel (right) on either side of New Montgomery Street where it goes south from Market, c. 1890s.'''

			''Photo: Online Archive of California''

	The building neared completion as Ralston's empire fell about him. He'd never been hampered by a firm boundary between his bank's finances and his own. He began selling properties and borrowing money on nearly everything that he owned and much that he didn't. Among the latter was San Francisco's private water company, on which he had an option and which he counted on selling back to the city at enormous profit. Other experiments in creative accounting included secretly over-issuing Bank of California stock. He borrowed $300,000 on Southern Pacific bonds which he'd removed from the bank vaults.		The building neared completion as Ralston's empire fell about him. He'd never been hampered by a firm boundary between his bank's finances and his own. He began selling properties and borrowing money on nearly everything that he owned and much that he didn't. Among the latter was San Francisco's private water company, on which he had an option and which he counted on selling back to the city at enormous profit. Other experiments in creative accounting included secretly over-issuing Bank of California stock. He borrowed $300,000 on Southern Pacific bonds which he'd removed from the bank vaults.

Lisaruth at 21:06, 18 January 2009

2009-01-18T21:06:16Z

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	San Franciscans argue to this day whether Ralston's death was accidental. Historian Hubert Howe Bancroft, Ralston's contemporary, had no such doubts; in his copy of a city history, Bancroft scrawled in the margin "Ralston, though a daring, dashing pet of the people was a bad man and committed suicide rather than face his friends, after his frauds should become public. [sic]"		San Franciscans argue to this day whether Ralston's death was accidental. Historian Hubert Howe Bancroft, Ralston's contemporary, had no such doubts; in his copy of a city history, Bancroft scrawled in the margin "Ralston, though a daring, dashing pet of the people was a bad man and committed suicide rather than face his friends, after his frauds should become public. [sic]"

	~~''--Gray Brechin,~~ ''from "Pecuniary Emulation" in'' Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics and Culture, ''City Lights Books, 1998		''from "Pecuniary Emulation" in'' Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics and Culture, ''City Lights Books, 1998''

Ccarlsson: Protected "BANK OF CALIFORNIA and WILLIAM RALSTON": finished essay [edit=sysop:move=sysop]

2009-01-02T22:53:11Z

Protected "BANK OF CALIFORNIA and WILLIAM RALSTON": finished essay [edit=sysop:move=sysop]

← Older revision	Revision as of 15:53, 2 January 2009
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Ccarlsson: PC

2008-12-17T04:00:19Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:00, 16 December 2008
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			'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Essay</font></font> </font>'''

			''by Gray Brechin''

	[[Image:downtwn1$bank-of-california-1996.jpg]]		[[Image:downtwn1$bank-of-california-1996.jpg]]

Ccarlsson at 06:08, 16 August 2008

2008-08-16T06:08:13Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:08, 15 August 2008
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	[[Pier 7 \|Prev. Document]] [[~~Jackson Square Label~~ \| Next Document]]		[[Pier 7 \|Prev. Document]] [[The Ferry Building \| Next Document]]

	[[category:Downtown]] [[category:1850s]] [[category:1860s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Power and Money]]		[[category:Downtown]] [[category:1850s]] [[category:1860s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Power and Money]]

Ccarlsson: categories and links

2008-08-16T06:05:19Z

categories and links

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	'''Bank of California at Sansome and California, founded in the 1860s by William Ralston. '''		'''Bank of California at Sansome and California, founded in the 1860s by William Ralston. '''

			''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

	From the moment he arrived in San Francisco in 1854, William Ralston was a leading player in the high-stakes game of Western exploitation. In a land whose abundant resources had scarcely been scraped and whose real estate values climbed with each new immigrant, the future belonged to the ruthless and to the lawyers who wrote the rules of the game for them. They were frequently the same.		From the moment he arrived in San Francisco in 1854, William Ralston was a leading player in the high-stakes game of Western exploitation. In a land whose abundant resources had scarcely been scraped and whose real estate values climbed with each new immigrant, the future belonged to the ruthless and to the lawyers who wrote the rules of the game for them. They were frequently the same.
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	Pyramid schemes based on the fantasy of perpetual growth are notoriously flimsy and grow more so as the economy slows down. On August 26, 1875, as rumors swept San Francisco, a run began on the Bank of California. At 2:35 PM, its vaults empty, the bank closed its doors and thousands faced ruin. The details of their failures have never been told.		Pyramid schemes based on the fantasy of perpetual growth are notoriously flimsy and grow more so as the economy slows down. On August 26, 1875, as rumors swept San Francisco, a run began on the Bank of California. At 2:35 PM, its vaults empty, the bank closed its doors and thousands faced ruin. The details of their failures have never been told.

	Ralston's corporate board summoned him to appear the day after his bank closed. It seemed that he owed the institution nearly five million dollars, approximately its entire capitalization. All directors professed shock and claimed to have no inkling of their partner's felonious activities, though subsequent lawsuits blew holes in their avowed ~~naivet~~. Years later, when lawyers cornered Darius Mills with a subpoena at the Palace Hotel, he suddenly grew deathly ill, retired to his bed, and lost all memory of everything pertaining to the management of the bank during his presidency.		Ralston's corporate board summoned him to appear the day after his bank closed. It seemed that he owed the institution nearly five million dollars, approximately its entire capitalization. All directors professed shock and claimed to have no inkling of their partner's felonious activities, though subsequent lawsuits blew holes in their avowed naiveté. Years later, when lawyers cornered Darius Mills with a subpoena at the Palace Hotel, he suddenly grew deathly ill, retired to his bed, and lost all memory of everything pertaining to the management of the bank during his presidency.

	On August 27, 1875, however, Mills' mind was in fine shape. He and his partners forced Ralston's resignation. They also made him sign over all of his assets to William Sharon whom, they trusted, would attempt to straighten out the mess. Ralston left the bank for his daily swim.		On August 27, 1875, however, Mills' mind was in fine shape. He and his partners forced Ralston's resignation. They also made him sign over all of his assets to William Sharon whom, they trusted, would attempt to straighten out the mess. Ralston left the bank for his daily swim.

	He was a strong swimmer, but on the day of his downfall, he was under considerable stress. An hour after plunging into the Bay, his body was retrieved by observers who watched him flounder and sink.		He was a strong swimmer, but on the day of [[Real Drowning off Aquatic Park\|his downfall]], he was under considerable stress. An hour after plunging into the Bay, his body was retrieved by observers who watched him flounder and sink.

	William Sharon had recently been elected to the U.S. Senate from Nevada, thanks to the generosity of his "sack bearers" in the Silver State. It was in the Senator's best interests to rehabilitate Ralston's reputation, for California law held him and his partners financially liable for the failed bank's debts. He did so with the same skill with which he played poker and the stock market.		William Sharon had recently been elected to the U.S. Senate from Nevada, thanks to the generosity of his "sack bearers" in the Silver State. It was in the Senator's best interests to rehabilitate Ralston's reputation, for California law held him and his partners financially liable for the failed bank's debts. He did so with the same skill with which he played poker and the stock market.
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	''--Gray Brechin, ''from "Pecuniary Emulation" in'' Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics and Culture, ''City Lights Books, 1998		''--Gray Brechin, ''from "Pecuniary Emulation" in'' Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics and Culture, ''City Lights Books, 1998

	~~Contributors to this page include:~~

	~~''Carlsson,Chris - Photographer-Artist ''~~

	~~City Lights Books,San Francisco,CA - Publisher or Photographer~~

	~~Brechin,Gray - Writer~~		[[Pier 7 \|Prev. Document]] [[Jackson Square Label \| Next Document]]

	[[~~Pier 7 Prev. Document~~]] [[~~Jackson Square Label Next Document~~]]		[[category:Downtown]] [[category:1850s]] [[category:1860s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Power and Money]]

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2007-10-07T21:56:03Z

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