MAREST, or MARRET, Gabriel (mah-ray), French missionary, born in France; died near Peoria, Illinois, in 1715. He was sent as a missionary to Camtda, and labored successfully among the Illinois Indians in 1697, after acquiring a good knowledge of their language. He then established his mission permanently near Fort Peoria, and most of the tribes in the neighborhood became Christians. He was much annoyed by the French in the Illinois country, who were profligate and made light of his reproofs, and in 1711 he appealed to Governor Bienville, who sent him a sergeant and twelve men to maintain order. Father Marest is the author of two narratives that have been published in the "Lettres edifiantes." The first gives an interesting account of a journey that he made to Hudson bay in 1694 in company with Iberville; the second, dated 9 November, 1712, from the Illinois country, contains several curious details as to the settlement of the French and the progress of Christianity among the Indians on the Mississippi.