Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable was a famous frontier trader, fur trapper, farmer, businessman and the authenticated father of Chicago. Unfortunately, historical records concerning him are few and far between, and they do not completely agree as to the origin of this great man. However, tradition insists that DuSable was born a free Black man in about 1745, in St. Marc, Saint Dominque (now Haiti). He was the son of a French mariner and an African-born slave mother.

His father took him to France to be educated, and afterwards he worked as a seaman on his father's ships. He was a powerfully built man, well educated, and cultured. He had a love for European art and at one time owned twenty-three old-world art treasures. He spoke French, English, Spanish, and several Indian dialects.

At the age of 20, DuSable was injured on a voyage to New Orleans. Upon reaching Louisiana's shore, he learned that the Spanish government had taken over. The French Jesuits, a Catholic order, protected DuSable from being enslaved until he was well enough to make his way up the Mississippi River. He later settled in Peoria, Illinois.

In the early 1770s, DuSable built a cabin and eventually owned more than 800 acres of land in Peoria. He enjoyed a special relationship with Illinois territorial Indians and eventually took a Potawatomi Indian, Kittihawa (Catherine), as his common-law wife. He and Kittihawa had a daughter, Susanne, and a son, Jean.

Some years later, he left Peoria and made his way north until he reached the Great Lakes area. The promise of greatness of the "Chigago" area, which DuSable decided to settle, had been passed over by others before him. None had the foresight to look beyond its barren, damp, marshy condition.

In 1779, starting from scratch, DuSable built the first permanent home on the north bank of the Chicago River, where the present-day Tribune Tower stands. It was a well-constructed house consisting of five rooms and equipped with all the modern conveniences of the times, and considered a mansion. In it the first marriage in Chicago was performed, the first election was held, and the first court handed down justice.

DuSable established a thriving trading post, and in short time became known in places as far away as Wisconsin and Detroit. The trading post consisted of a mill, bakehouse, dairy, smokehouse, workshop, poultry house, horse stable, barn and several other smaller buildings. His post was the main supply station for white trappers, traders, woodsmen, and the Indians.

The Chicago portage boomed. It became the key route for merchant trading, and DuSable sent wheat, breads, meats and furs to trading posts in Detroit and Canada, quickly becoming a man of considerable wealth and means. He also owned a substantial quantity of field and carpentry tools, which indicated that he must have hired men for fieldwork and building assignments. In addition, he owned an appreciable quantity of livestock, poultry, and hogs.

In 1784, DuSable brought his wife and children to Chicago. Being a devout Catholic, he and Catherine were properly married by a Catholic priest. In 1796 their granddaughter became the first child born in the 'city' of Chicago. As the history of DuSable unfolds, it leaves all history scholars puzzled by his sudden departure from such a prosperous environment.

On May 7, 1800, the "father" of Chicago sold his entire wealth for a mere $1,200 and left the area. In 1818, he died almost penniless, and was buried in a Catholic cemetery in St. Charles, Missouri.