First Bank

In 1900, veteran bankers Leland Windsor and Simon Cassady joined forces to organize a private bank in a tiny town outside Des Moines. Their business was named Windsor & Cassady Bankers; the town was known as Valley Junction. Within a year, the bank had recorded deposits of some $40, 000. The owners then decided to make the business a national bank, obtaining a charter from the U. S. Government authorizing the bank to issue notes acceptable as legal tender. Thus, on July 1, 1901, the First National Bank of Valley Junction was established.