Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable

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Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable (c. 1745 - August 28, 1818) was the first non-native settler in the area which is now Chicago, Illinois. He was long ignored by historians, partly because he was a Haitian and not white, and partly because the early histories were written by the friends and descendants of John Kinzie, to whom du Sable sold his house in 1800.

Du Sable built his first house in the 1770s, thirty years before Fort Dearborn was established on the banks of the Chicago River. By the time he sold to Kinzie's frontman, Jean La Lime, his property included a house, two barns, a horsemill, a bakehouse, a poultry house, a dairy and a smokehouse. The interior was richly appointed as well.

Du Sable married the daughter of one of the local Potawatomi chiefs. During the Revolutionary War, he was imprisoned briefly by the British at Detroit, Michigan, on suspicion of being a US spy.Charles Balesi. The Time of the French in the Heart of North America, 1673-1818. Alliance Française.

Jean-Baptiste had a son and daughter, Jean and Suzzane.

In 1800 du Sable left Chicago and headed west for unknown reasons. Some speculate that he was disappointed the local Potawatomi tribe did not make him a chief.

He was also the founder of the first trading post in Chicago.

The DuSable Museum of African American History, on Chicago's South Side, is named in his honour.

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