Native American hunters and their families were present near this mountain from an early time, as archaeological evidence from rock shelters near its base has revealed. They worked, played, laughed, cried, loved, fought, and admired this mountain. The park and mountain take their name from the Creek-Muskogean word "Chaha," roughly meaning "High Place," a fitting name because the highest place in Alabama is here. Cheaha State Park lies within what was once the large and powerful Creek Nation. In Alabama, the Creeks inhabited a broad region bordered on the north by the southern Appalachian Mountains, on the west by the Cahaba and Alabama Rivers, on the south by the Florida border, and on the east by the Georgia border. During the Creek War of 1813-1814, a significant battle took place nearby at Talladega, and after their defeat by Andrew Jackson, Creek warriors took refuge in the mountains. The larger tribe was later forced to walk the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma, while the descendants who remained behind are known as the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, headquartered at Poarch near Atmore, Alabama.