Manard was the site of a settlement on Bayou Menard named for Pierre Menard (1766-1844), an early fur trader, merchant, member of the Chouteau family, and the first territorial governor of Illinois. Springs at Manard were identified as a Cherokee council ground prior to 1828. A trading post was established by Bartholet & Heald in 1832, and a Cherokee agency was established by Montfort Stokes in 1837. It was the burial place of HT Martin (1822-1868), the first postmaster of Cherokee Nation West. The site was also the scene of a Civil War skirmish on July 27, 1862, when US Maj. WM A Phillips and Indian Home Guards encountered and routed Watie's Confederates under Lt Col Thos Fox Taylor. Manard later served as a stage stop and was the site of a holdup of US Mail by the Cook Gang on July 14, 1894, and of the shooting of Joseph Glad by outlaw Jim French in 1894. A post office operated there from 1883 to 1913, and a Manard school, established by 1863, closed when it was consolidated with Ft Gibson Schools in 1966.