Pierre Menard

Fur trader and public official, born in St Antoine, Quebec, Canada. He moved to Indiana (1787) and became a partner in the St Louis Missouri Fur Co. With Andrew Henry, he led the first organized group of trappers to the Three Forks of the Missouri R (1810). He was the first lieutenant-governor of Illinois and served as an Indian commissioner (1828–9).

Illinois Territory was a frontier region of the United States that was descended from the Illinois Country, a section of the French colony of Louisiana. Upon the admission of Illinois as a state in 1818, the population of the new state was divided between French-speaking and English-speaking citizens. In an example of ticket-balancing, Menard became the state's first lieutenant governor, serving from 1818-1822 with the first governor, Shadrach Bond.

As a symbol of the waning power of the new state's French-American citizens, the first Illinois General Assembly decided in 1820 to move the state capital from Kaskaskia, Menard's home town, to Vandalia.

Menard County, Illinois is named for the Lieutenant Governor. His house, near Chester, Illinois, is preserved as the Pierre Menard Home State Historic Site.