The Hillabee complex, focused along the Hillabee and Enitachopco Creeks, dates back at least to the late 17th century. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries the complex lay in the approximate center of the Creek Confederacy's territory. Its population probably peaked after the
Creek War (1813–14), then declined. Creek settlement in the area ended with the
forced removal of the Muscogee people during the 1830s. A large number of Hillabee Creeks fought General
Andrew Jackson's forces at Talladega. They were badly defeated and sued for peace, which Jackson granted on 17 November 1813. One day later the Hillabee villages were attacked by troops under General
William Cocke, who did not know about the peace. The villages of Little Oakfusky and Genalga were completely destroyed. The main town of Hillabee was attacked. The Creeks, who thought they were at peace, were completely surprised and gave little resistance. During the attack 64 Creek were killed, 29 wounded, and 237 taken captive and sent to
Fort Armstrong, near
Turkeytown. Feeling betrayed, the Hillabees returned to the Red Stick alliance and remained bitter enemies of the Americans for the rest of the war. The complex was located near the junction of several important trading trails, notably the Oakfuskee Trail (Upper Creek Trading Path), the Weogulfga-Oakfuskee Trail, and the Cussetta Trading Path. After the 1814
Treaty of Fort Jackson the United States and white settlers built or improved a number of roads crossing Creek lands. Roads that crossed the Hillabee area included the
McIntosh Road (also called the Georgia Road), which connected
Coweta to
Talladega, the
Federal Road, which connected
Milledgeville, to
Mobile, and was originally an Indian trail called the
Three Notch Road. Part of the Weogulfga-Oakfuskee Trail near Hillabee was widened and became known as the Chapman Road. ==See also==