officially, Marin de la Malgue, but also found as Marin de la Marque, Moran, and (often in Wisconsin documents) Morand; officer in the French colonial troops who drove the Fox Indians from the river that today bears their name.

By 1720 Marin was serving in the west, where he was commissioned an ensign in 1722. He was put in charge of the Chequamegon region the same year, an appointment which included a monopoly of the region¿s fur trade. Although accused of being more interested in profits than in military affairs, he nonetheless won promotions and achieved great success as a commander.

In 1729 he opened a trading post among the Menominee near Green Bay, and employed a mixed force of Indians, voyaguers and soldiers to suppress the Fox Indians. For decades this tribe had stationed warriors at strategic points on the Fox River and demanded tolls or bribes of every canoe that passed, harassing anyone who refused to pay. Marin is best-known for a sneak attack about 1730, described by Augustin Grignon. Shortly after, the Fox and Sauk withdrew southward, and had largely left Wisconsin by 1775. Over the next decade he traded throughout Wisconsin and the Upper Mississippi, with small outposts scattered throughout the region. He usually employed about a dozen voyageurs in the 1730s and up 30 in the following decade.

In 1746 Marin was sent to lead French troops against the British in New York, where his conspicuous bravery was rewarded with a promotion to captain and the command at "Baie-des-Puants" (Green Bay). Here he not only commanded the garrison but also employed up to 190 voyageurs annually, and tradition says he grew wealthy. His trading and his military activities reinforced one another: the military goal was to maintain peace among the tribes so that furs could flow to Montreal, and imported goods (especially ammunition) were the device used to keep the Indians in line.

In 1752, when the French decided to seize control of the Ohio Valley, colonial officials put Capt. Marin in charge. Leading a force of 1,500, the 61-year-old Marin cleared forests between Montreal and modern Pittsburgh, building bridges, dams, and roads and quelling opposition from the Iroquois and frontier American settlers throughout the summer of 1753. The effort proved too much for him and he died October 29, 1753, at modern Waterford, Penn.. The following year his successors built Fort Duquesne at Pittsburgh, giving France control of the interior.

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[Source: Dictionary of Canadian Biography; Wisconsin Historical Collections, vols. 3 and 17.]