Today, the dry lake bed is part of the Kankakee Sands nature preserve.

During Indiana's frontier days, the lake continued to provide food and furs for the early settlers.

The drainage process began in 1854, when a ditch running from Beaver Lake to the Kankakee River was dug.

The Indianapolis Journal correctly predicted that Michael Bright intended to drain the lake and claim ownership of the land.

At that time the Nature Conservancy purchased 7,200 acres in and around the Beaver Lake basin and began restoring the area to native prairie.