Michel Branamour Menard (1805–1856) was a Canadian-born trader and merchant, first active on the upper Mississippi River and later in Texas.

[1] He was already working at a young age as an engagé at the Detroit post of the American Fur Trading Company.

[1] Menard applied for Mexican citizenship on December 1, 1829, at Nacogdoches, where he established a base for his fur trading operations.

He opened a sawmill in 1833, and by 1834, he had accumulated various tracts of land along the Trinity and Red Rivers amounting to about 40,000 acres (16,000 ha).

His trading reached as far south as Saltillo, Mexico, and he continued to send goods north on the rivers to the American Fur Company.

Seguín received a grant from the Monclova government amounting to about 4,605 acres of land at the east end of Galveston Island.

David White acted as an agent to receive payments from Ménard on behalf of the Republic of Texas.

[5] Ménard commissioned the construction of a two-story, Greek Revival house, then broken down and shipped as parts from Maine.