What follows is a copy of an e-mail response from Mike Ivie, Department of Entomology, Bozeman. As you will note, this response pretty much confirms what I have found to be the case already... both in the literature and in on-line sources.

"Scott,

Sorry to take so long to get back to you, but I have been in the West Indies, and just getting back to my e-mail.

Sorry, but there is no list of Montana Spiders other than an old one by Levi and Levi for Glacier National Park, and an unpublished one for the same region we did for a report to GNP.  The eastern part of Montana is very poorly known for everything.

The only real spider person who has lived in the area, to my knowledge, is Bea Vogel in Helena.  She did a PhD on spider taxonomy at Yale year ago, and has recently retired from the State Welfare Department.  I should have an e-mail address for her, but can't find it right now.

Rich Miller, a fellow beetle systematist here who is working on a prairie project has been learning the spiders, and is putting together a list of Montana records as he comes across them.  Because of an ISP who pulled out of Bozeman, he is left without e-mail right now.

He says that other than the Canadian volumes on spiders, there is nothing useful except to go to the primary literature.  We both want to encourage you to collect as much as possible in your region, as there is virtually nothing known from out there.  All distribution records can be expected to be new records for the area!

So, welcome to Montana, and drop in to the Department any time you are over this way.  What are you doing in Miles City?

Mike Ivie"

There would appear to be little doubt that a survey undertaken over an extended period would be a most welcome and instructional addition to the knowledge of the fauna of Montana in particular and the northwest in general.