While there were numerous proposals to construct dams in the Susan River Canyon very few ever came to fruition. This 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 at the location to be featured in a future post. The sawmill and subsequent power plant was 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, did little damage. Between the railroad construction, in 1913, and time the dam slowly deteriorated. During the drought of 1977, the foundations of the dam were revealed.

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