What follows is part of an e-mail response from Mike Ivie, Chairman of the Department of Entomology, Montana State University,Bozeman. As you will note, his response pretty much confirms what I have found to be the case already... both in literature and on-line resources.

"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but there is no list of Montana Spiders other than an old one by Levi and Levi for Glacier National Park, and an unpublished one for the same region we did for a report to GNP.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.

"RM, 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. 

"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!"

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.