They called the area Oquawkiek, meaning “yellow banks.” White settlers arrived and kept the peace, thanks to Stephen S. Phelps, the founder of the village of Oquawka, who harbored respect for the native peoples.And in 1858, Lincoln made a stump speech here, as did his rival and another Phelps family friend, Stephen Douglas, the first circuit judge in this seat of Henderson County.Civic leaders saw great promise for growth, but — in a familiar story from the 19th century — that went to the wayside when railroads went elsewhere.Still, Oquawka survives well as a village, with 1,539 residents and a half-shuttered downtown that supports locals as well as visiting boaters.In fact, east-west Illinois Route 164 stops in — not at, but in — the river, where the pavement slopes into the waterway to accommodate boat trailers.History records little of her background, except that she was born in the U.S. She was an Asian elephant, which have smaller ears and bodies than the African variety, and weighed 6,500 pounds (2,900 kg).As nightfall approached, head elephant caretaker "Possum Red" tethered Norma Jean to a tree at the village park in the center of town, using a metal chain to hook her up.Townsfolk used a backhoe to dig a 6-foot (1.8 m) hole, rolled the three-ton-plus pachyderm corpse into the grave and marked it with a plywood sign.John Behnke, a graduate student from Southern Illinois University's cinema program, filmed a 15-minute documentary on the marker, which later appeared on Showtime.[10] On the early morning of June 14, the town of Oquawka, Illinois, was evacuated, due to a levee breach along the swollen Iowa River.