Jean Baptiste Pointe Dusable - Founder of Chicago

by John Swatsley

Title

Jean Baptiste Pointe Dusable - Founder of Chicago

Artist

John Swatsley

Medium

Painting - Watercolor On Cold Press Illustration Board

Description

The founder of Chicago was Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable. Little definitive information exists about Du Sable's early life. However, it is generally believed he was born in Haiti; his mother was black and his father was a French mariner-trader. Later, his French nationality gave him the status to pursue a formal education. As a young man in the late eighteenth century, he was lured by stories of riches and opportunity in the fur trade. Thus, he set out for the Great Lakes-Mississippi River region. Du Sable traversed French-held American territory seeking his fortune. Following the routes of Father Marquette and Louis Joliet, he traveled up the Mississippi River to the Illinois and Des Plaines Rivers before finally reaching the Chicago River and its mouth at Lake Michigan. Here, amid the level, swampy riverbanks, he established a fur trading center in 1773. The native Potawatamie Indians embraced Du Sable and held him in high regard; thus, his trading post -- later named Chicago -- flourished. Du Sable took a Potawatamie Indian woman as his wife and watched his family and the little frontier community grow. By 1780, the Potawatamie held him in such great esteem that they successfully petitioned their British protectors to name Du Sable their overseer. His wealth increased with a British land grant of some four hundred acres near present-day Peoria. Du Sable died in 1818 while living with his son in St. Charles, Missouri.

Please note the "Fine Art America" watermark will not appear on the painting or any print reproduction.

Artwork Copyright © 1987 Wind River Studios Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the Copyright. WRSH Stock Number XB10894

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September 21st, 2022

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