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Archibald Yell (August 9, 1797 – February 23, 1847) was a member of the United States House of Representatives, Governor of the State of Arkansas, and a Brigadier General in the United States Army serving in the Mexican-American War.
Yell became a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives and received several Federal appointments during the Jackson administration. He was appointed to head the Federal land office in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1831. Yell was offered the governorship of the territory of Florida in 1832 but declined. In 1835 he received an appointment as an Arkansas territorial judge. He is reported to have single-handedly retrieved a criminal from a local saloon and physically brought him to his court.
In 1840 Yell was elected Governor of Arkansas and focused on internal improvements and better control of banks. He was also a supporter of public education. In 1844 Yell resigned his post as governor to run again for Congress. Yell is reported to have been the consummate campaigner.
Yellville is named after Archibald Yell who was the first member of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas, second Governor of Arkansas, and who fell in combat at the Battle of Buena Vista in the Mexican-American War. Yellville existed well before the state of Arkansas was accepted into the United States in 1836, but under a different name. The actual name of Yellville is explained by Marian Burnes in the 1979 book, The History of Marion County:
In 1836 Marion County was formed...At that time, Yellville was chosen as a name for the town, in honor of Arkansas's second governor, Archibald Yell. The story has been handed down that he wanted the new town named in his honor and offered the founding fathers $50 to do so. They named it Yellville, but the $50 was never paid. Before Archibald Yell, the settlement was called Shawneetown for the Indian villages located here. Yell fought in the Mexican War under General Zachary Taylor and died in the war in 1848. The name Yell can be seen across Arkansas, as in Yell County, Arkansas and Archibald Yell Boulevard in Fayetteville, Arkansas. At least two biographies of Yell have been written, the most recent published by the University of Arkansas Press in Fayetteville.
Interestingly current relatives of Governor Yell read about how Yellville got its name and in 2006 paid the naming fee without interest.
To honor the original town name, the local town branch that flows near Crooked Creek and through town is called the Shawnee Town Branch. There is also a Shawneetown Days Festival.
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