From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Blackmon, George Z.
(born: 1854 - died: 1936) George Blackmon was born in Fulton County, KY. He can be found in the census records from 1910-1930 living in Clayton, Custer County, Idaho. Blackmon is remembered as a pioneer miner in Idaho, where it is said that several areas are named for him: Washington Basin, Washington Creek, Washington Peak, and Blackman Peak.Blackmon, said to have been a slave at one time, went to Idaho in the mid to late 1870s with a group of miners. Gold and silver had been discovered in Idaho in the 1860s, and the prospect of riches drew many miners to the state. George Blackmon worked claims in the Fourth of July Creek and basin areas using a pickax and a mule. He was still mining in the 1930s.
The correct spelling of George Z. Blackmon's name, his birth and death dates, and his birth location were provided by James Ridenour, a researcher in Washington state. According to Ridenour's article "The Man Who Became a Mountain," Blackmon was educated and articulate; he had been educated by a white family in Iowa. He also played the fiddle. Blackmon is buried in Clayton Cemetery.
For more about Blackmon's life, see J. Ridenour's article in Idaho Magazine, vol. 7, issue 12, September 2008, pp. 51-56; Southern Idaho Ghost Towns, by W. C. Sparling; Sawtooth Tales, by D. D'Easum; and Idaho Place Names, by L. P. Boone.