July 26 – On this day in Montana history in 1810 fur trapper Pierre Menard arrived in St. Louis after exploring the Montana wilderness less than five years after it had been traveled by Lewis and Clark. A letter written by Menard to his brother-in-law Pierre Choteau, which among other things discusses the dangers of trapping at Three Forks due to hostile Native American attacks, is the earliest documentation in the collections of the Montana Historical Society regarding the U.S. attempts to open the area to the fur trade. Ironically, it is written in French.