Fayetteville in Washington County, Arkansas — The American South (West South Central)

Archibald Yell

Second Governor of Arkansas

Photographed by Marilyn Heifner

1. Archibald Yell Marker and gravesite

Inscription.

Archibald Yell was Arkansas’s first congressman and its second governor. Likely born in Tennessee in the late 1790s, Yell received limited formal education but a sound instruction in law, which became his calling. Yell’s close friendship with Tennessee congressman (and future president) James Polk led to his appointment by President Andrew Jackson as a territorial circuit judge in Fayetteville in 1835. His colorful nature and his influential role in drafting the Arkansas state constitution in 1836 quickly gained him a popular following and a term in Congress from 1836 to 1839. He declined reelection to run for governor, a post he held from 1840 to 1844.

Yell returned to Congress from 1845 to 1846, but with the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, resigned his position and enlisted in a regiment of Arkansas volunteer cavalry, where he was elected regimental colonel. He was killed in the Battle of Buena Vista, February 23, 1847, leading a charge against advancing Mexican lancers. Although Yell dueled and brawled, he was an eloquent politician who supported public schools, an end to debtors’ prisons, and better control

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

of banks. He also helped found the state’s first Masonic lodge, the same lodge that, together with the Odd Fellows, administered this cemetery from 1870 to 1915.

Erected by Fayetteville Evergreen Cemetery Association. (Marker Number 39.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Fraternal or Sororal Organizations • War, Mexican-American. In addition, it is included in the Arkansas Heritage series list. A significant historical date for this entry is February 23, 1847.

Location. 36° 3.867′ N, 94° 10.15′ W. Marker is in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in Washington County. It is on North University Avenue. In the Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville. Adjacent to Archibald Yell's grave, located in the north central part of the cemetery. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 20 N University Ave, Fayetteville AR 72701, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Northwest Arkansas,

on the Ozark Plateau,

in the Cherokee Heritage Region,

and in Osage Territory.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

and

Archibald Yell Marker Reverse image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Marilyn Heifner

2. Archibald Yell Marker Reverse

in the Ozarks.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

the Louisiana Purchase,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Evergreen Cemetery (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); The State and Land-Grant University of Arkansas (approx. 0.2 miles away); Underwood Building 1966 (approx. 0.2 miles away); Superconductivity (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Razorbacks (approx. 0.2 miles away); Cotton Stacking (approx. 0.2 miles away); Wide Area Bar Code Reader (approx. ¼ mile away); Statistical Avian Ecology (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fayetteville.

Also see . . . Archibald Yell. Wikipedia entry (Submitted on July 23, 2025, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)

Archibald Yell image. Click for full size.

via Wikipedia, unknown

3. Archibald Yell

Credits. This page was last revised on July 23, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 23, 2023, by Ashley Sides of Little Rock, Arkansas. This page has been viewed 331 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 23, 2023, by Ashley Sides of Little Rock, Arkansas. 3. submitted on July 23, 2025, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.