Some one wanted to know about dams on the Susan River in the canyon. The first dam was constructed in the spring of 1857and was located just below the current site of Hobo Camp. The dam powered a sawmill. The mill caught fire in the spring of 1868 and was destroyed, as well a portion of the dam.

The Bremner dam was constructed in 1886 on the Susan River about a half-mile above  Hobo Camp. It was an impressive structure being 250 feet long and 25 feet high. It created a reservoir in which water was backed up over a mile. The dam was constructed to provide waterpower for a sawmill, and later a power plant was added. These were destroyed by fire in 1894. The sawmill was never rebuilt and the power plant located downstream where a flume from the dam provided the waterpower. By 1900, this too, had gone by the wayside, and residents were concerned about a possible dam failure, flooding people downstream. In 1906, some unknown party attempted to blow up the dam with explosives, but not familiar with them, did little damage. Between the railroad construction, in 1913, along with time the dam slowly deteriorated. During the drought of 1977, the foundations of the dam were revealed.

Tim