Jean Baptiste Point du Sable

Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, born around 1745, is celebrated as the first permanent non-Native settler of what would eventually become Chicago, Illinois. His legacy as the city's founder is commemorated at the site where he established his settlement near the mouth of the Chicago River in the 1780s, now recognized as a National Historic Landmark in Pioneer Court.

Of African descent, Point du Sable's early life remains largely a mystery until the 1770s. He was known to be handsome and well-educated, and he married a Potawatomi Native American woman named Kitihawa, with whom he had two children. His life was marked by significant historical events, including his arrest by the British in 1779 during the American Revolutionary War, suspected of being a sympathizer for the American Patriots.

By the early 1780s, Point du Sable was working for the British lieutenant-governor of Michilimackinac at an estate in what is now St. Clair, Michigan. His first recorded presence at the mouth of the Chicago River appears in a trader's journal from the early 1790s, where he had already established a thriving trading settlement that would lay the groundwork for the future city.

In 1800, he sold his property along the Chicago River and relocated to St. Charles, where he was granted a license to operate a ferry across the Missouri River. Despite his pivotal role in the development of the Chicago River settlement, Point du Sable's contributions went largely unrecognized until the mid-20th century. Today, his legacy is honored through various institutions in Chicago, including a school, museum, harbor, park, bridge, and road named in his honor.