The term “wild cat bank” came from a dishonest Bank of Detroit (population 600) in the then territory of Michigan established in 1806 for the purpose of deliberate fraud. The scam was to print beautiful banknotes from a “bank” where the wild cats roamed. Boston was 800 miles away. Smart Easterners then took advantage of the country folk by purchasing the notes at a 30% discount. When they tried to redeem them at face value in 1808, they found the Bank of Detroit has closed its doors.