Blake, Henry, 1834-1912.

Henry Blake turned from gold mining in 1865, returning to his family in Iowa, where he worked as a constable and in other law enforcement positions, as well as auctioneering. By 1867, he was working as an itinerant peddler of goods, and made several trips to N.Y. City and Chicago, hoping to improve his business affairs. Blake returned to Colo. at the end of his life, and was working as a night watchman at the Denver County Court House in 1911, the year of the last diary.

Henry Blake was born in Madison Co., Ind. on 2 July 1834. He lived with his wife and children in Newton, Iowa. Having been elected recorder of the Sugar Loaf mining district in 1860, he moved his family to Colo. in 1862 with a group of would-be gold miners. He mined and prospected in Gold Hill, Sugarloaf and other young gold mining towns. Involved in conflicts with Indians in 1864-1865, he wrote about the Sand Creek massacre of Nov. 1864, but did not participate in it.

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