(1745–1818). An African American trader, Jean-Baptist-Point du Sable was the first non-Native American settler in what is now Chicago. Because of his race, it was many years before Du Sable was properly recognized as Father of Chicago.

Early life

Many facts of Du Sable's life are not known with certainty. He was born in about 1745 in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). His father came from a French-Canadian family and his mother was a slave from Africa. In 1764 he moved to the French territory of Louisiana. Soon he voyaged up the Mississippi River. He lived first in what is now Peoria, Illinois, where he married Kittihawa (Catherine), a Native American woman of the Potawatomi tribe.

Career

In the 1770s the Du Sables settled near the mouth of a small river that flowed into Lake Michigan near the lake's southern end. The area had an Indian name meaning “wild onion” or “skunk cabbage” or “powerful.” This name is now spelled Chicago. Du Sable set up a trading post and possibly a farm as well.

In 1779 Du Sable found himself caught up in the American Revolution. Unsure of his loyalty, British authorities arrested him and moved him to their encampments in what is now Michigan. Before long he had won their trust and was running the Port Huron trading post.

In 1784, with peace restored, Du Sable returned to Chicago where once again he bought and sold supplies and provisions, mostly food. He was highly thought of by the people he dealt with, and he was successful. Many people passed through the Chicago River area, which was a crucial link between the drainage systems of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.

Retirement and death

In 1800, for reasons that are not known, Du Sable sold out his business and left Chicago. He lived for a time in Peoria and then moved to the Missouri River village of St. Charles, Missouri, where he died on August 28, 1818. In 1803 the U.S. Army built Fort Dearborn directly across the river from his old trading post. Chicago grew in the surrounding area and in 1837 was incorporated as a city.