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The colorful figure of Archibald Yell perfectly exemplifies the potential power of personality to shape politics. A disciple of Andrew Jackson and a close personal friend of James Polk, Yell cut a swath through early Arkansas politics. Many of the stories told about him bordered on legend:
"He's a gentleman. He ain't ashamed to shake hands with leather hunting shirts. He bows to common folks. He's the right sort of judge."
The above quotation is from a folklore-ridden article published on July 15, 1871, in the
Fayetteville Democrat and alleged to be a reprint of an earlier article. The piece includes this often-repeated account of Judge Yell and his bailiff quelling a riot in their courtroom:
"The New judge used his little iron cane with terrible efficiency, crippling limbs, yet still sparing life, while Good-natured Bill Buffum, imitating the clemency of his honorable friend actively trampled or crushed down all opposition, roaring with furious blow, 'This is a way to preserve order in court.' Such was the debut of Archibald Yell in Van Buren, Territory of Arkansas."
Yell was so popular that when statehood approached, the Family had residency requirements inserted into the new constitution so as to assure that one of their own, James Conway, would be elected Arkansas's first governor. Yell was forced to run for Congress and received more votes than any other candidate in the 1836 election. He was so popular that he didn't even bother to return to Arkansas when he stood for re-election in 1837. He won handily, despite efforts by his opponents to brand him as a closet abolitionist because of his refusal to attend a meeting of pro-slavery representatives.
In 1840, Yell stepped down from Congress to be elected governor by one of the most lopsided margins in Arkansas history - 10,953 to 399. His principal accomplishment as governor was to close the state's ill-fated banks. These had been launched in the teeth of a financial panic. Nevertheless the legislature had seen fit to commit the state to $3,000,000 in credit at a time when the treasury contained exactly $81.79.
Next: Yell's Popularity Does Not Extend to His Fellow Politicians
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