W.O. Sleeper & Co., Bankers, Columbia, CA, (successors to D.O. Mills & Co.) Business card and a Gold Dust receipt for 17 oz. and 12 Dwt. worth $325.50 @ $18.50per oz. The front of the card also states, ÃHighest Price paid for Gold Dust. In 1850 D.O. Mills established a branch bank in Columbia, Tuolumne County (Bret Hartes ÃRoaring Camp), situated in what was at that time one of the most promising an active gold fields of California. The Columbia branch was maintained for about nine years under the management of Edgar Mills, Dariuss brother, and then sold to W.O. Sleeper & Co. sometime in 1859. The Bank was a substantial brick building that survived the August 27th, 1857, fire that ravaged Columbia. More than $55,000,000 in Gold dust passed over the counter of this branch and was weighed on its scales during the first nine years under Mills. W.O. Sleeper & Co. (W.O. Sleeper and A. E. Hooker) operated the bank successfully till 1865. Reference: Financing an Empire Ã’ History of Banking in California by Ira B. Cross 1927. Vol. I, p. 78-81. Some foxing on the corners otherwise Very Good. A second item is a check by W.O. Sleeper & Co. dated Oct. 9th, 1858. Size: 7.75 x 2.625 inches. Columbia California