Joseph Francis Saltis (8 September 1894 – 2 August 1947), known as "Polack Joe", was a

Rusyn American Rusyn Americans (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyn Americans, are Americans with ancestors that were Rusyns, from Carpathian Ruthenia or neighboring areas of Central Europe. However, some Rusyn Americans identify as Ukrainian Americans, Russian Ame ...

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

boss who, with Frank McErlane, operated an illegal bootlegging

crime family A crime family is a unit of an organized crime syndicate, particularly in the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia, often operating within a specific geographic territory or a specific set of activities. In its strictest sense, a ''family'' ...

in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of

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, until his territory was seized by

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

and the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or the Organization, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Chicago, I ...

. Saltis then retired to Wisconsin.

Early life

Saltis was born in

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Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

to Rusyns Jakob Saltis (from

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) and Maria Polaczek (from Šariš,

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) and immigrated to the United States in 1905, becoming a saloon owner in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County, Illinois, Will County. It had a population of ...

Chicago

He moved to Chicago with the announcement of the

Volstead Act The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress designed to execute the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919) which established the prohibition of alcoholic drinks. The Anti- ...

in 1920. With the assistance of John "Dingbat" Oberta (sometimes spelled "O'Berta"), a candidate for the

Illinois State Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under th ...

, Saltis began supplying illegal alcohol to Chicago's

speakeasies A speakeasy, also called a beer flat or blind pig or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. In the United State ...

in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. During this time, Saltis remained on good terms with Chicago

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is ...

and his South Side neighbor

, whose

began dominating Chicago's bootlegging soon after his arrival in the early 1920s. Indeed, by the mid-1920s, only the Saltis-McErlane organization remained independent from the eight satellite gangs under Capone's control. However, soon becoming entrenched in territory disputes with many of Capone's satellite gangs, Saltis began talks for a secret alliance with Capone rival Earl "Hymie" Weiss's

North Side Gang The North Side Gang, also known as the North Side Mob, was a primarily Irish-American criminal organization within Chicago during the Prohibition era from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s. It was the principal rival of the South Side Gang, also ...

. Throughout the following year, Saltis began preparing for war as smaller rivals such as the Southside O'Donnell's (for which an attempt would be made on his life in late-1925) and sometimes allied Sheldon Gang began to threaten Saltis's hold on the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Soon gunmen such as Frank "Lefty" Koncil, Charlie "Big Hayes" Hubacek, and Frank McErlane joined Saltis's ranks. On August 6, 1926, Sheldon Gang member John "Mitters" Foley was killed by Frank Koncil while in Saltis's territory. While Koncil, along with Oberta and Saltis, were arrested and charged with murder, Oberta's considerable political influence (as well as assistance from Weiss) was able to get the case dropped on November 9. The following year, Oberta, with Saltis and many other of Capone's subordinates, managed to arrange a conference at the Hotel Sherman on October 20, which included Al Capone, George "Bugs" Moran, Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci, Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik, Jack Zuta, Ralph Sheldon, William Skidmore, Maxie Eisen, and Christian Betsche, managing to agree on a general

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

of the various gang wars, specifically between the Chicago Outfit and the North Side Gang, as well as the gang war between Saltis-McErlane and the Sheldon Gang. The ceasefire lasted a little over two months before war broke out again when members of Saltis-McErlane gang killed Sheldon Gang member Hillary Clements on December 30. As the gang war continued between Saltis and the Sheldon Gang over the Back of the Yards neighborhood, Al Capone had begun to move in on Saltis's territory, as the war was beginning to turn in favor of the Sheldon Gang. When Koncil and Hubacek were lured into an ambush and killed on March 11, 1927, Saltis pleaded to Capone to negotiate peace between the Sheldon Gang in exchange for a large cut of Saltis's profits. By the end of the gang war, however, Saltis's gang began to disintegrate as Frank McErlane left Saltis in late 1929 over disagreements over McErlane's share. When Oberta and his chauffeur, Sam Malaga, disappeared on March 25, 1930, allegedly taken for a " one way ride", Oberta and Malaga were later found dead with gunshot wounds to their heads. Saltis was suspected by the Chicago Police Department to be involved in 20 gangland murders between 1925 and 1929.

Retirement

With his associates gone and his organization all but destroyed, Saltis quickly retired to his home on Barker Lake in Winter, Wisconsin.Historic Barker Lake Lodge
at www.barkerlakelodge.com Despite his retirement, when Frank J. Loesch, chairman of the

Chicago Crime Commission The Chicago Crime Commission is an independent, non-partisan civic watchdog organization of business leaders dedicated to educating the public about the dangers of organized criminal activity, especially organized crime, street gangs and the tools ...

compiled his " Public Enemies" list of the top 28 people he saw as corrupting Chicago in April 1930, Saltis was listed. (Capone headed the list.) The list was widely published, gaining Saltis a measure of nationwide notoriety.

Death

Saltis later died at age 53 from complications of a stomach ulcer in Chicago's Cook County Hospital in 1947.

References

Notes Bibliography *Kelly, Robert J. ''Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. *Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2005. *Sifakis, Carl. ''The Encyclopedia of American Crime''. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. Further reading *Asbury, Herbert. ''The Gangs of Chicago: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld''. New York: Alfred A. Knoff, 1940. *Enright, Laura L. ''Chicago's Most Wanted: The Top Ten Book of Murderous Mobsters, Midway Monsters, and Windy City Oddities''. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books Inc., 2005. *Holli, Melvin G. and Peter d'Alroy Jones. ''Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait''. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1981. *Kobler, John. ''Capone: The Life and Times of Al Capone''. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2003. *Johnson, Curt and R. Craig Sautter. ''The Wicked City: Chicago from Kenna to Capone''. Boston: Da Capo Press, 1998. *Schoenberg, Robert J. ''Mr. Capone''. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saltis, Joseph 1947 deaths 1894 births Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Gangsters from Chicago American gangsters of the interwar period American people of Rusyn descent Rusyn-American history