Yell County is a county in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,185. The county has two county seats, Dardanelle and Danville. Yell County is Arkansas's 41st county, formed on December 5, 1840 and named after Archibald Yell, who was the state's first member of the United States House of Representatives and the second governor of Arkansas; he later was killed in combat at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War.