For Albert Cressey, a levee break was a ticket to wealth

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When Albert L. Cressey arrived in California in the spring of 1857, he was penniless. But this impoverished man would learn something that would change life in the San Joaquin Valley forever and make him a very wealthy man.

The monotony of farm work in New Hampshire -- broken by winters that lasted six to eight months -- held little interest for young Cressey. Those long breaks provided time for education, and by the time Albert was 16, he fled the farm to work in the mills of nearby Great Falls. He didn't like that and moved on to Portsmouth, where he worked for several years at many vocations.

After three years, he had no idea what he wanted to do. So the 19-year-old boarded the steamship "George Law," bound for Panama. There he departed, and just in time. The ship sank on its next voyage.

After crossing the isthmus, Cressey boarded the steamship "Golden Gate," which took him to San Francisco. Soon after he got off the ship, it, too, sank. Cressey was flat broke. But he made friends, and borrowed $4 from one to book river passage to Stockton. He was broke when he arrived, but this time the ship survived.

A farmer hired him to work his fields, and in time, Cressey acquired 160 acres of government land.

Cressey planted his first crop of wheat, but worms destroyed it. He was now worse than broke; he was $300 in debt. The next year the undaunted Cressey planted another wheat crop. This time his levees, which he couldn't afford to strengthen, broke, and the San Joaquin River flooded his fields. With his crop sitting under several inches of water, all appeared lost.

In a few weeks, however, Cressey would be in for a shock when the "ruined" wheat took a second start and produced a bumper crop. He even had more than his neighbors whose fields hadn't flooded.

While this turn of events set him on his way to wealth, it also showed him what the valley farmer needed: irrigation. The only way to make that happen was through the creation of the Modesto Irrigation District -- which was still several decades in the future.

After his bumper crop, Cressey moved to Stanislaus County and went on to achieve many things in his 82 years. He owned a number of ranches in San Luis Obispo, Kings, Merced and Stanislaus counties. With his brother, he organized and opened Modesto Bank, becoming president and manager. He served as road overseer of San Joaquin County and helped secure the right of way for the Southern Pacific Railroad. In the fall of 1870, he rode the first train to Modesto. He built the first grain warehouse in Merced and erected another warehouse in Modesto.

In spite of his inauspicious early years, Cressey was able to turn things around. Not only did he better his life, but also the life of the valley by helping to make it an agricultural force.

Sources: George H. Tinkham, "History of Stanislaus County" (1921) and "A Memorial and Biographical

History of the Counties of Merced, Stanislaus,

Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa, California" (1892).

McAndrews is a docent and board member of the Great Valley Museum. E-mail him at columns@modbee.com.