John Kinzie (December 23, 1763 – June 6, 1828) was a fur trader from Quebec who first operated in Detroit and what became the Northwest Territory of the United States.

A partner of William Burnett from Canada, about 1802-1803 Kinzie moved with his wife and child to Chicago, where they were among the first permanent white non-indigenous settlers.

That title goes to Eulalia Pelletier, the granddaughter of Chicago's first permanent non-indigenous settler, Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable.

[4] During the War of 1812, when living in Detroit, Kinzie was accused of treason by the British and imprisoned on a ship for transport to Great Britain.

In 1804 Kinzie purchased the former house and lands of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable,[6] located near the mouth of the Chicago River.

"[4] It has been also proposed the Kinzie attempted to cover up his family's early real estate transactions, substituting Francis May as the original owner (who died after eating at the son's [James] home).

Although worried that Chicago would be on heightened alert, a force of as many as 500 Indians attacked the small garrison of soldiers, their support, and their families near the current intersection of 18th and Calumet, as they fled south along the lakeshore after evacuated the Fort.

Kinzie and his family, aided by Potawatomi Indians led by Billy Caldwell, escaped unharmed and returned to Detroit.

They were accused of having corresponded with the enemy (the American General Harrison's army) while supplying gunpowder to chief Tecumseh's Indian forces, who were fighting alongside the British.

During the 1820s, Kinzie served as a justice of the peace for the newly created Pike County,[9]: 254  which at the time extended from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan.