an expedition of 350 men to trap beaver on the upper Missouri River. After a stop at Fort Mandan in present-day North Dakota, the company wintered at Fort Raymond at the confluence of the Bighorn and Yellowstone rivers. In March 1810, along with fur trader Andrew Henry, Menard led thirty-three men to the headwaters of the Missouri where they established a post. The expedition, however, failed after a series of attacks by Blackfeet raiding parties that killed several trappers and stole their pelts and traps. Menard left the upper Missouri in May and returned home. He died in 1844 and was buried at Fort Kaskaskia, near his house. Legacy Menard County, Illinois is named for the Lieutenant Governor. His house, near Chester, Illinois, is preserved as the Pierre Menard Home State Historic Site. Bayou Manard (spelled with two a's), a branch of the Arkansas River, was named for Pierre Menard. Menard was, until 2020, commemorated by a statue on the Illinois Statehouse grounds. His statue was the first installed, and is one of only three honoring previous state executives (along with Governors Yates and Palmer). On 19 August 2020, the Office of the Architect of the Capitol announced plans to remove the statues of both Menard and Stephen Douglas, as both had been slave owners. References External links Pierre Menard Home State Historic Site Searching For the Slaves' Quarters: Archaeology at the Menard House State Historic Site, Randolph County, Illinois; by Christopher Stratton and Floyd Mansberger 1766 births 1844 deaths American people of French-Canadian descent American slave owners Illinois Territory officials Indiana Territory officials Illinois Independents Lieutenant Governors of Illinois Members of the Illinois Territorial Legislature Members of the Indiana Territorial Legislature 19th-century American politicians People from Chester, Illinois