Du Sable, Jean Baptiste Point, << doo SAH bluh, zhahn bah TEEST pwahnt >> (1745-1818), a Black American pioneer, was the first known settler to build a house and open a trading post in what became Chicago. His name is also spelled Sable, De Sable, and De Saible.
Du Sable was probably born in Haiti. He came to the Chicago area during the 1770’s. He made friends with the Potawatomi, and married a Potawatomi woman named Kitihawa (also called Catherine). He had a farm near Peoria in 1773. Du Sable built a log cabin on the north bank of the Chicago River about 1779. He operated his trading post in part of the cabin, and became rich trading with Indigenous (native) American tribes. He died on Aug. 28, 1818.
