Antoine Ouilmette

In 1908, amateur historian Frank Grover wrote that previous claims that Ouilmette was an "Indian chief" were false, and that he was instead a white voyageur of French Canadian ancestry.

[4] Another source says that he was baptized as "Antoine Louis Ouimet", on December 26, 1758, in the parish of Sainte-Rose northwest of Montréal, in what is now the city of Laval, Québec.

It is not known why and when Antoine's family name changed to Ouilmette; also referred to as Ouilmet, Houillamette, Willamette, Wilmette, Wilmot, Wemet.

[5] In 1796 or 1797 he married Archange Marie Chevalier, a French-Potawatomi woman, at Gross Pointe, a site along the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan.

[11] Ouilmette and his Métis family were friendly with most of the local native American population, so they remained in Chicago in the four years that followed the Battle of Fort Dearborn.

"[13] Ouilmette was "known as a kind, whole souled, generous man of remarkable energy and perseverance, who made friends with everybody, both Indians and whites, and he in turn was universally liked and respected.

"[14] In 1829 Antoine Ouilmette was instrumental in persuading local Native Americans to sign the second Treaty of Prairie du Chien.

In April 1833, he and they (and others), petitioned the Bishop of the diocese of Missouri, located in St. Louis, asking for permission to establish the first Catholic church in Chicago.