Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable

Of Afrikan and French descent, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable was the son of a Haitian slave and a French pirate who was educated in Catholic schools in France. After graduating from school, du Sable became a fur trader, a job that would lead him to Louisiana and present day Michigan. It was in Michigan where he married his Native American wife Kittahawa. Because it was customary to be a part of the tribe that ones wife belonged to, du Sable became a member of Potawatomi tribe and was designated as "Black Chief". During his marriage, the area that is now known as Chicago was a tiny trading center with no inhabitants. It wasnt until du Sable formed an elaborate fur-trading post as well as a house for his family that the area known as Chicago was officially founded and populated in the early 1770s. He sold the land for a mere $1200 and moved to Peoria, Illinois and later St. Charles, Missouri. When sold, his property included a 22 by 40 foot log cabin filled with art and needed amenities, several barns, a mill, a bakehouse, a poultry house, and a smokehouse (yep he was barbecuing!) Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable was imprisoned in Detroit for a short while on the accusation of being a US spy by the British army (ALWAYS tryna keep a Nubian oppressed), after which he moved to Missouri where he is buried in an unmarked grave in a Catholic cemetery.

Today, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable is noted as being the first inhabitant / founder of Chicago. Parks, schools, postage stamps, museums, and streets are named in his honor today throughout the Chicago Metropolitan Area.
Yay Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable!