Many people in Illinois have heard of Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable*—the first non-Native settler of what would become Chicago, an entrepreneur and fur trader, and a Black man who was a likely native of St. Domingue (today’s Haiti). But many don’t know that, like so many traders of his time, Pointe du Sable lived and worked throughout the Great Lakes area and the Illinois country, with time spent in what is now Michigan; Trail Creek in Michigan City, Indiana; Cahokia and perhaps Peoria, Illinois; and the St. Louis area. In his work, his partner was his Potawatomi wife, Kitihawa, later known as Catherine.
A French speaker born sometime before 1750, Pointe du Sable worked in the complex fur trade society of the upper Midwest and Great Lakes area, a society in which Native and French-speaking families mixed and in which traders and their families frequently moved from place to place. Whatever Pointe du Sable’s birthplace, he certainly circulated among the fur-trade communities established by the French in the upper Midwest and Mississippi Valley. Although there were enslaved people in fur trade society—both Black and Native—Pointe du Sable, a Black man, was not enslaved, and he established a successful business that left its traces in numerous records of contemporary trade partners.
As was the case for many French traders, Pointe du Sable’s marriage with a Potawatomi wife helped to cement relationships between him and Native communities. Pointe du Sable and Kitihawa’s marriage, likely first contracted in the Native fashion, was solemnized in the Catholic church in the small French settlement of Cahokia, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, on October 27, 1788. The couple had two children, Jean and Susanne.
Early in his career, there is evidence that he worked from a trading post located on Rivière du Chemin or Trail Creek, at today’s Michigan City, Indiana. In 1779, in the midst of the American Revolution, Pointe du Sable was arrested by the British on suspicion of sympathizing with the American Patriots. He was imprisoned at Michilimackinac but was released shortly thereafter and was put in charge of a fur trading property on the St. Clair River in Michigan, a position he held for several years. At one time, Pointe du Sable may have owned property in Peoria, Illinois—another settlement of French origin—although this has been disputed.
He settled at “Checagou” sometime in the 1780s, establishing his homestead on the north side of the Chicago River not too far from its mouth. The land today is occupied by the Apple Store building and Pioneer Court. Antoine Ouilmette would soon build a house nearby, but Pointe du Sable is recognized as the first non-Native American to inhabit the land that would become the city of Chicago.
Pointe du Sable’s property was not just a small fur trade cabin; it was richly appointed for the day and included multiple substantial buildings. When he moved from Chicago in 1800, the list of his property—which was purchased by Jean LaLime for 6000 livres, a much-used currency of the day—shows that he was cultivating crops and raising livestock as well as grinding grain, baking, and smoking meat in addition to his trading activities. His estate included a house measuring 40 x 22 feet as well as a barn measuring 40 x 28 feet, a horse mill, a bakehouse, a poultry house, a smokehouse, and a dairy. A stable and a workshop rounded out the list of buildings. Among his other possessions were livestock, including cattle, hogs, and mules; farming implements such as plows and a scythe; and household furnishings including a “cabinet of French walnut” with four glass doors.
The reasons why Pointe du Sable left Chicago in 1800 are unknown. He moved to St. Charles, Missouri, near St. Louis, which at the time was part of Spanish Louisiana, since the land west of the Mississippi River was not yet part of the fledgling United States. His son Jean was also a resident of St. Charles. Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable died on August 28, 1818, and was buried in the St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery.
It was not until the twentieth century that Pointe du Sable was recognized as the “true founder of Chicago.” Today, the city’s main traffic artery along the lakefront is called Jean-Baptiste Point Du Sable Lake Shore Drive, the Michigan Avenue Bridge is called DuSable Bridge, and the city’s museum of African American history is the Du Sable Black History Museum and Education Center. Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Park, which is located along the shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago near the original site of his homestead and trading post, is slated for inauguration in the next few years. Du Sable High School also perpetuates the memory of this successful businessman.
* Through the years, Pointe du Sable’s name has been spelled in various ways, sometimes “du” and sometimes “de,” sometimes “Point” and sometimes “Pointe.” We know of no document that tells us exactly how Pointe du Sable would have spelled it himself.
For more information:
Ann Durkin Keating. 2012. Rising up from Indian Country: The Battle of Fort Dearborn and the Birth of Chicago. University of Chicago Press.
M. M. Quaife. 1928. Property of Jean Baptiste Point Sable. The Mississippi Valley Historical Review 15:1 (June 1928), 89 – 96. https://jstor.org/stable/1891669
Marc O. Rosier. 2016. Chicago’s Authentic Founder: Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Trafford.
https://www.dusableheritage.com/history
https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/who-was-jean-baptiste-pointe-dusable