4. Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, Founder of Chicago
Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a Haitian Black man, was the first non-Indigenous settler of the area that became Chicago, Illinois. The son of a French Haitian and an American slave, Point du Sable navigated from New Orleans to what is now Peoria, Illinois. While others traveled the area first, he was the first to create a permanent settlement, where he stayed for at least twenty years. He became a wealthy man of sound reputation. Jean Baptiste Point du Sable is regarded as the true father of Chicago.
