Bank of California

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.

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.

[10] At a time of volatile trading of Nevada mining stocks, a run on the Bank of California occurred on Thursday, August 26, 1875.

He walked to the North Beach to get away from the angry crowds and went to the Neptune Bath House, where he was accustomed to swim in the ocean on summer days.

Under his leadership, the Bank of California became one of the chief centers of exchange between European money markets and those of Japan and China.

[18] In January 1905, Homer S. King left Wells Fargo & Company to assume the presidency of the Bank of California.

[21][22] In 2008, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and was renamed MUFG Union Bank.