This month marks the 149th anniversary of the Oregon territorial legislature renaming the Champoeg district to Marion County in honor of Brigadier General Francis Marion of the South Carolina Militia. He is renowned for using guerrilla warfare against the British government during the American Revolutionary War. He also earned the nickname "Swamp Fox" by setting up base in a swamp to evade his British foes.
Noted historian Christopher Hibbert said that Marion was "very active in the persecution of the Cherokee Indians and not at all the sort of chap who should be celebrated as a hero. The truth is that people like Marion committed atrocities as bad, if not worse, than those perpetrated by the British."

An article printed in The Guardian says that the General's ungentlemanly warfare wasn't his only sin.

"When he wasn't forging the land of the free, it seems that Marion was slaughtering Indians for fun and regularly raping his female slaves."

Marion also fought in campaigns against the Cherokee Indians and learned many of his strategies from their battles. However, he never commanded a large army or led a major battle during his lifetime.

There is no connection between Oregon and Francis Marion. He had never heard of Oregon or even the Oregon Trail. Marion died in 1795, almost ten years before Lewis and Clark scouted the area and 64 years before Oregon would join the United States.

Most other Oregon counties share a connection with their namesakes --  Polk County is named after the 11th President of the United States James Polk, who secured the Oregon Territory into the U.S.; Linn County was named after Senator Lewis F. Linn who was a major voice of support for the American occupancy of Oregon Country; Yamhill, Wasco, and Clackamas counties were named after Native American tribes that lived in the area.

Kathleen Schulte of the Marion County Historic Society found information in their records that suggests that a book published about General Marion's life may have been the reason the name was chosen:

"The Weems-Horry `Life of Marion' was a popular book among the frontier people of Oregon, and his past exploits greatly appealed to them."

Unfortunately this "biography" may be a pile of hooey. Parson Weems, who wrote it, is credited with the invention of George Washington's cherry tree story, which most historians believe to be completely false. According to Project Gutenberg's transcriber Alan Light, Weems' work was not blessed by his co-author General Peter Horry because of factual errors that he perceived to be unacceptable.

The film "The Patriot" is loosely based on the real life of Francis Marion, with Mel Gibson playing the lead. When the movie was first released, many Brits took offense to the portrayal of the lead character as a hero. In London's Evening Standard, Neil Norman, a British author, suggested that Gibson's role in the movie came with rewrites of history.

"With Gibson on board the primary aim for the movie was big box-office success. Therefore, it was necessary to rewrite the `hero' -- the real-life Francis Marion, a thoroughly unpleasant dude who was, basically, a terrorist -- to a level of palatability that is more appropriate for the wholesome Mr. Gibson," Norman said.