 The river at one time flowed unobstructed into the lower St. Croix River between Hudson and North Hudson ().However a dam was built to block off its mouth, a narrow channel was cut above the dam to the St. Croix River, the channel was dammed, and a mill was built to exploit the head of water that the two dams created.Subsequently, the Willow River Power Company built a hydroelectric facility to utilize the same head of water, but the head was substantially decreased when the United States built the Red Wing Dam downstream on the Mississippi River.