The area of Chesaw was heavily populated with Chinese miners by the time White miners came to the area. The owner of a store near the mining camps was run by a Chinese man known as, Chee Saw. Chee Saw, who arrived in the mid-1890s, married a Native American woman. He owned a small ranch near his store that miners frequented. His prices were fair and he was known as an honest man. Locals evolved the name of his store from "Chee Saw's" to "Chesaw," and eventually the name stuck and the town became known as Chesaw.