Soil water retention curves are a key tool for understanding the fundamental relationship between soil moisture content and the energy associated with the water retained. Studies have often focused on the wet end of the soil water retention curve while little attention has been given to the dry end of the soil water retention curve where surface adsorption is the critical component in determining the amount of water retained. In this study we examine the dry end of the soil water retention curve and the hysteretic behavior associated with two wettable soils and their dimethyl silane treated hydrophobized counterparts. The soils used are Hanlon sandy loam and Ida silt loam and there are four treatments per soil. The treatments consist of wettable, small electrical conductivity; wettable, large electrical conductivity; hydrophobic small electrical conductivity; and hydrophobic large electrical conductivity. Different electrical conductivities are used to separate the osmotic and wettability effects associated with the hydrophobic soils in order to fully examine the soil water retention relationship and hysteretic behavior. The soil water retention curves are measured by vapor equilibration of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic samples over known salt solutions of known osmotic potentials. We report the effects of wettability and wetting and drying history on soil water retention of these soils.