PEORIA MAGAZINE September 2023

losing popularity and attendance. For Clark & Walter, tough times meant sell ing off several elephants, except for one: a 29-year-old pachyderm named Norma Jean. ‘THAT WAS THE TALK OF THE TOWN: WHAT TO DO WITH THE ELEPHANT’ — Brian Cochran She was the star of the show. Known for her circus skills and gentle temper ament, she was beloved by her fellow performers. AN APPROACHING STORM The circus rolled into town the night of July 16, setting up in the town park, then just a grassy field. Roustabouts scurried to get tents up fast, ahead of forecasts calling for possible rain. Norma Jean’s caretaker, known as Possum Red, was always careful to keep track of the elephant. A couple of years earlier, she had wandered away during a circus stopover in Indiana. So, in the Oquawka town park, he used a metal chain to tie her to a big, tall tree. The next morn, storm clouds rolled in. Possum Red worried about possible lightning and that metal chain. So, he ducked out of his tent to cut Norma Jean loose. “Just as he got to the tree, a big bolt of lightning struck the tree and knocked Possum Red 30 feet (away),” Cochran said. “When he finally came to, he looked at the tree and saw his beloved Norma Jean lying on the ground, dead.” The circus family was stunned, in part out of grief. But they also worried about what would happen to the circus and their jobs without the star of the show — a $10,000 uninsured elephant. “I think they hit the road pretty much right after that,” Cochran said. A BIG, FAT QUANDARY With the circus bugging out — and soon to go out of business — Oquawka was left with a problem that sounds

Original poster and ticket for the Clark & Walters Circus

like a silly riddle: What do you do with a 6,500-pound elephant carcass? News crews from all over swarmed to Oquawka to cover the strange saga. Townsfolk, especially kids like 6-year old Brian Cochran, came out to stare at the elephant and wonder about the next move. “That was the talk of the town: what to do with the elephant,” Brian Cochran recalled 51 years later.

This sign directs tourists to the grave, on 5th between Mercer and Clay

half-century years later, tourists still trickle into Oquawka to glimpse the oddity of an elephant gravesite. They pause to remember the untimely death of a circus elephant that a small town barely knew — but will never forget.

After contacting the state for direc tion and permission, the village used a backhoe to dig a 12-foot hole, then rolled Norma Jean into the makeshift grave. At first, a plywood sign marked Norma Jean’s final resting spot. But some locals didn’t think a mere sign would do, not for something as remarkable and momentous as a fallen elephant. So, they built a memorial wall with commemorative plaques. More than a

Phil Luciano is a senior writer/columnist for Peoria Magazine and content contributor to public television station WTVP. He can be reached at phil.luciano@wtvp.org

SEPTEMBER 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE 57