Du Sable, Jean Baptiste Point 37post became the main supply source for fur trappers, trad-
ers, and Indians in the area. Aft er a few years, Du Sable’s
trading post also supplied staple food items to trading posts
in Canada and Detroit. It had a mill, bakery, dairy, smoke-
house, poultry house, and workshops, barns, and stables.
Du Sable’s business thrived, and he owned much livestock.
Du Sable became well known for trading goods throughout
the Midwest. As a result, he became very wealthy. In 1784,
he brought his wife and children to live with him in Chi-
cago. Du Sable’s granddaughter, Eulalie, was born in 1796.
She was the fi rst non-Indian baby born in Chicago.
Aft er the death of his wife and son, Du Sable sold his
property in Chicago for $1,200 and moved to St. Louis, Mis-
souri, to live with his daughter, her husband, and grand-
daughter. When his daughter and her husband moved to
Canada, Du Sable bought a house on a farm in St. Charles,
Missouri, that he deeded to his grandchildren on the con-
dition that granddaughter Eulalie care for him until his
death and then bury him with Catholic rites in a Catho-
lic cemetery. For the next few years, Du Sable lived on his
St. Charles farm. Jean Baptist Point Du Sable died on Au-
gust 29, 1818, at the age of 73.
In 1968, Du Sable was offi cially recognized by the state
of Illinois and the city of Chicago as “the Founder of Chi-
cago.” In recognition of his pioneering role, the U.S. Postal
Service, on February 20, 1987, issued a Black Heritage
Series 22-cent stamp in honor of Du Sable. Th e Du Sable
Museum of African American History, on Chicago’s South
Side, is named in his honor in addition to his homesite, a
high school, a park, and a harbor in downtown Chicago.
Th e Chicago Du Sable League is dedicated to the preser-
vation and dissemination of Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable’s
life and history and in maintaining his respectful place in
American, African American, and Chicago history.
See also: American RevolutionJanice D. Hamlet
Bibliography
Du Bois, Shirley Graham. Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable: Founder
of Chicago. Englewood Cliff s, NJ: Responsive Environments
Corp, 1953.
Meehan, Th omas A. “Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable, the First Chi-
cagoan.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 56
(1963):439–53.
Simon, Elizabeth Matlock, and Hubert V. Simon. Chicago’s First
Citizen, Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable: A Historical Sketch of
a Distinguished Pioneer. Chicago: E. Matlock-Simon and
H. V. Simon, 1933.area now known as Chicago. Th e son of a French sea cap-
tain and an African-born former slave, Du Sable was born
around 1745, in Saint-Marc, Sainte Dominique (present-
day Haiti). Not very much is known about Du Sable’s early
life except that his mother may have been killed by the
Spanish when he was 10, and he probably escaped death
by swimming out to his father’s ship. His father sent him
to France to be educated, and he learned to speak English
and Spanish in addition to his mother tongue. When he
returned from France, he went to work on his father’s ships.
When Du Sable was about 20, he undertook a voyage to
New Orleans. Th e vessel sank and Du Sable was injured.
When he arrived in New Orleans without his identifi ca-
tion papers, he discovered the port had been taken over
by the Spanish government. He was in danger of being
captured and sold as a slave, but was rescued by French
Jesuit priests who protected him until he was well enough
to travel again.
Du Sable traveled up the Mississippi River to the St.
Louis area, and then settled in a frontier area near what
is now Peoria, Illinois. He was accepted by the local Po-
tawatomi Indians and took a Potawatomi woman, named
Kittahawa, but whom he called Catherine, as his wife. In
order to be given permission to marry her, the 25-year-old
Du Sable had to become a member of her nation. Th e Po-
tawatomi called him “Black Chief,” and he became a high-
ranking member of the nation. Th ey had a son, Jean, and
a daughter, Susanne, together. Th ey prospered fi nancially
and eventually owned more than 80 acres of land in the
Peoria area.
Before it became a city, Chicago was a trading center,
and, as its fi rst permanent resident, Du Sable operated the
fi rst elaborate fur-trading post during the fi rst two decades
before 1800. In the late 1770s Du Sable headed north to
explore the region near the shores of the Great Lakes. He
saw potential in a swampy area that had been passed over
by previous European explorers. Th e Indians called this
land Eschikagou (Chicago), the place of bad smells due to
the odor of the swampland. Whites in the area had been
fearful of attacks from hostile Native Americas. Du Sable,
however, got along well with various Indian groups, and he
knew several of their languages. He stayed and built a fi ve-
room house, the fi rst permanent structure in the area. It
stood in what is now downtown Chicago. In 1782 Du Sable
established a trading post that grew successfully, becoming
well known all around the Great Lakes region. Th e trading