Note: This column originally appeared on Jim Hill Media on February 6, 2003.

Anahiem and San Francisco.

North and South.

Two different places. Or are they?

More than anyone who lives in either one would want to admit these cities are alike.

Both have their dreamers. Anahiem had Walt Disney in 1955.

Walt Disney, out for of a day of railroading.

San Francisco had William Chapman Ralston in 1870.

And there lies the tale...

The account of Walt Disney and his business career should be familiar to most of the readers here. But, I would bet most of you have never heard of Billy Ralston. As much as Walt can be called responsible for Anaheim and it's growth, so Billy should be given credit for much of what San Francisco is today.

William Chapman Ralston grew up along the banks of the Ohio River and got an education that many a young man of those days might envy. His father operated a boat yard and sawmill where his four sons had exciting opportunities. Young Billy graduated to working on steamboats up and down the river, in a variety of jobs. His passion to explore the many opportunities presented led him to join the throng headed for gold in California.

At the age of 25, he was the Captain of the steamship New Orleans as it sailed from Panama, bound for San Francisco. Arriving at the Golden Gate on Friday, September 15, 1851, it was destiny revealed. The City was a place of great promise for a young man with a dream; much like Walt would find Los Angeles when he arrived from Kansas City.

That first visit to San Francisco was all of 12 days, but it hooked him like a trout on a line. There were prospects ahead to last a lifetime.

Disney was in similar circumstances at the same age; making a name for himself in cartoons.

Both faced setbacks along the way. For Ralston there were trials and tribulations to be overcome. His partners made an enemy of Cornelius Vanderbuilt, and his shipping empire. Disney lost Osawld the Lucky Rabbit to Carl Laemmle and Universal.

Yet, both took adversity and came out better for it. For Ralston, less than 4 years after that first visit to San Francisco, he was a partner in one of the major banking firms in the City with capital of $700,000. Not too shabby for someone still short of his thirtieth birthday...

And Disney? He went on to a series of short subjects with a mouse as his central character. The rest, well you know...

William Chapman Ralston

Ralston's fortunes bloomed and he went on to become one of the financial wizards of his day. Eventually, he was a founding partner in the Bank of California. So powerful did the Bank become that if a proposed project did not have its support, it simply died. At one point, Ralston and his "Ring" (as his associates became known) had the corner on industry in San Francisco and in Virginia City, Nevada (from whence the money that built San Francisco flowed). At one point on the Comstock, the Bank owned the Water company, many of the mines, the railroad that served them, the mills that reduced the ores of silver and gold to bullion, and even the trees that provided timbers and fuel to serve both the mines and the mills. It was said that at one time no business was conducted on the Comstock without the blessing of the Bank!

Ralston was also generous to a fault, supporting many a worthy cause anonymously. When offered a city to be named after him by the Southern Pacific Railroad, he modestly declined. Instead, the place gained the name of Modesto.

Ralston Hall today.

Ralston and Disney shared a passion in horses. Walt had his polo ponies, Billy had his braces of stallions with which he would race trains (and handily beat them) from San Francisco to his mansion in Belmont on the peninsula south of the City. A visit by foreign dignitaries to California was not considered complete unless it included being feted by Ralston at his home. This Italinate villa survives today as Ralston Hall at the College of Notre Dame.

A further comparison on Disney and Ralston was their complete investment in projects that might define their lives. For Disney, it was the theme park that bears his name. For Ralston, it was the Spring Valley Water Company, which served San Francisco. He over-extended himself in an effort to own a controlling interest, in hopes of selling it to the City and making a tidy profit. Newspaper editors bristled at paying what they considered almost double the actual value, and bade their readers to revolt at the ballot box or pay the price in high costs for water.

Poor timing and other influences conspired to do in both Ralston and the Bank of California. To the common man of San Francisco, they were one and the same. If Ralston and the Bank prospered so did they. When both failed, it was catastrophe; the end of all.

The Bank failed because of a perception that one of the partners, William Sharon, was dumping stock in Comstock mines at all costs. What he was trying to do was break a competing group (later known as the "Bonanza Kings") who had recently established their own Nevada Bank (a direct ancestor of today's Wells Fargo Bank!). This threatened the supremacy of which Sharon and Ralston were a part. When the sale of stocks at all costs became apparent to the public, panic set in and a run on the Bank of California commenced on the afternoon of Thursday, August 26, 1875. In the minds of many around the globe, as the Bank failed, so did the economy of the American west.

The Bank of California in those days.

The Bank closed its doors before the usual time that afternoon and announced it would suspend until further notice. Friday morning, Ralston set his affairs in order and directed all of his assets to partner Sharon to settle with his creditors. At a meeting of the directors of the Bank, they asked for and received his resignation.

Billy Ralston then walked from the Bank at the corner of California and Sansome to what today is known as Aquatic Park -- a distance of almost 2 miles. Here he would shake off the day and it's travails with an invigorating swim in the inviting waters of the San Francisco Bay. A relaxing moment to return him to his boyhood days on the Ohio would be just the thing.

His met his fate during that swim. Some suspect he suffered a stroke while swimming and drowned as the result. Others said that the weight of his labors finally caught him unaware.

The Palace Hotel.

The Bank did resume operations. The City did buy the Spring Valley Water Company some 50 years later and for much more than it would have paid to Ralston. William Sharon moved his family into the mansion at Belmont and prospered.

One final similarity: Both men had great projects they did not live to see finished. For Walt, it was the Florida project. For Billy, it was the Palace Hotel (today the Sheraton Palace Hotel). When it opened almost a year after his death, it was the finest accommodation on the West Coast with many innovative conveniences -- many produced by firms with direct connections to Ralston. When the 1906 earthquake hit the City, the Palace survived mostly intact. What did it in was the fire that followed. Even though it had one of, if not, the best water systems in any structure at the time, it could not keep up with the conflagration, and eventually succumbed to the advancing flames.

It was rebuilt, and continues today as one of the City's finest hotels. Brunch in the Garden Court takes one back to the days when it was a shining example of the hopes that William Chapman Ralston had for San Francisco.

Visit the Palace at http://www.sfpalace.com

And these links offer a bit more history on Ralston:

http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist10/wralston.html

http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/ralston.html

 

To Roger, Billy Ralston was a man definitely ahead of his time. His vision for the City he so dearly loved did come to pass in many of the ways he had hoped that it would. Comparing him and his contemporaries to the moguls of the dot com boom and bust offers a host of fascinating parallels. But that's another story for another column...