The purpose of the canal was to facilitate the movement of logs to sawmills.

The canal displays an unusual water phenomenon; it is frozen over in the first part of the winter when the lakes on each side of it are unfrozen.

Mitchell persuaded the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad to change their original route layout between the lakes, redirecting it to the eastern end of the Little Clam Lake, in the southeast corner of Wexford County, Michigan.

[4] Mitchell widened the stream to be able to float logs from one lake to the other and collect fees for the usage of the waterway.

[6][7] The canal was dedicated as a Michigan State Historic Site on March 16, 1989.