Saints

The story of the Saints begins with the formation of the Rebels in 1949.  The Rebels were founded in 1949 in the Back of the Yards as a mostly Polish white gang that began to become very popular by the mid-1950s.  The Rebels began making the news in 1956 and from there their popularity exploded.  The Rebels were so powerful of a group their territory encompassed the entire Back of the Yards community and even beyond the borders expanding all the way to the suburbs.  The Rebels were Chicago’s first super gang having up to 2,500 members at their peak but this was all prior to 1960; therefore, much of their history is lost.  The Rebels mostly ran Back of the Yards and even opened business in the neighborhood.

Beginning in 1959 when the Rebels began to take more heat from law enforcement members began to leave the group to start their own groups and one of those groups was the Saints.  The Saints were basically born out of the Rebels as even older Rebels started the Saints in 59.  Many people in the neighborhood were unaware of this transition and assumed these members were still Rebels.  The first time any people in the community knew of the Saints was in 1960 when young members like Rabbi and his brother Monk and Frank M became present on the streets.  The first Saint hang out was at Gus’ Snack Shop at 1620 W. 47TH at 47th and Marshfield.

The Rebels were one very tough greaser club that had major influence and respect in the neighborhood.  These guys were some of the toughest greasers in all of Chicago and they eventually dominated all the other gangs in the neighborhood.  The Rebels that started the Saints were perhaps some of the toughest of the toughest Rebels and this is how the Saints developed such a solid foundation and became one of the more respected and feared gangs in Chicago.

Rumors have always surfaced that the Saints began in the early 1960s but what I can say is that is not totally accurate.  Something did start up in the year 1960 but it wasn’t the creation of the organization from day one it was instead the beginning a new generation of Saints or possibly the beginning of the Junior Saints mostly formed by Joe (Butcher) Krentkowski.  According to a 1997 article from the Chicago Tribune people in the neighborhood claimed they remember the Saints starting in the early 1960s and they were just young kids getting into some trouble “Throwing rocks” as the article quoted.  The article claimed the Saints were the offspring of Polish workers that worked in the stock yards and the little stores along Ashland Avenue.  In the article a Sue Malone who said she is a long time resident of the neighborhood and a manager of the Back of the Yards Journal said “They started out as a bunch of kids standing on the corner acting tough.”  I found this comical to say the least because many times residents in the community are rather out of touch with the main nucleus of the gang and make assumptions based upon the activities of the lessor known or possibly lessor respected members.  The Tribune article seemed to only publish or track the stories of residents that had more negative opinions of the Saints which is very much common with the media as they spin narratives of negativity usually following a recent shooting.  The real facts are that the Saints were very respected in their neighborhood by most residents as the Saints protected this area for generations and kept outsiders away, but some people will always have negative perceptions of gangs.

When the Ravens broke away from the Rebels in 1964 the Saints soon gained major notoriety for fighting with the Ravens.  Even though the Saints were headquartered at 45th and Wood from the start they have always been in control of the area of 43rd to 47th and from Ashland to Damen. Saints were allies with the Cool Gents, Cornell Dukes and the Unicorns.  The Saints mainly fought with outsider gangs from outside the neighborhood.

The Saints also had religious beliefs as whenever they would pass a church they would do the sign of the cross which indicated the original members may have had a strong Catholic faith.  Doing the sign of the cross became a tradition of the Saints for generations to come.

The newer generation that began in 1960 brought in more Hispanic members than before as more Hispanic people were moving into the neighborhood.  Now the newer Saints would begin clashing with the Burger King Boys that begin in the mid-1960s.  It was this newer generation of Saints that established a close relationship with the Spanish Chancellors of Bridgeport that formed in 1960 which was a Mexican gang from 27th and Normal.  The Chancellors were one of the few allies the Saints would ever have, another was the Latin Counts from 18th Street.  The Saints really had no allies with other gangs in the Back of the Yards in these early years until the 1990s because of how territorial, dominant and how protective they have always been of their neighborhood and inviting other gangs into their territory can many times bring trouble in later months or later years.  The Saints had a smart approach in this aspect because it is true that most alliances throughout history that gangs have with one another always goes sour as time passes and territory is lost and wars are costly.  This is also why Saints are often pinned as a very violent and anti-social organization because of the level of violence used against enemies but Saints know that inviting outside gangs to settle peacefully almost always ends up in the other gang eventually taking advantage after territory in voluntarily surrendered to allies.

In the year 1966 the Saints began to battle with the newly formed Gaylords of Garfield Boulevard and Ashland.  In the same year the Burger King Boys formed right by the Gaylords and Saints fought them too.

In the late 1960s the Saints began to turn majority Hispanic as the neighborhood began to change racially.  The Rebels also closed operations by 1969 or 1970 leaving the neighborhood to become dominated by the Saints.

The first major gang to successfully settle in the Back of the Yards were the Latin Kings that settled at 51st and Ada in the year 1972.  This was not an official branch of the Latin Kings until 1980 but it was a menacing outside element for the Saints and war began.  The Latin Kings would then became the worst enemy of the Saints in history as the feud would go on for decades to come.

In the year 1976 three brothers Hondo, Tootsee and Bull moved to the South Chicago neighborhood at 87th and Houston starting the first branch of Saints outside of the Back of the Yards neighborhood.  Saints would end up at odds with Latin Kings in this area and Spanish Kings.

In the year 1980, the Saints had a tough decision when members became incarcerated whether to join the People or Folk alliance in the correctional system by the year 1980. In 1980 all gangs in the correctional facility now needed to align with either side of they wouldn’t survive.  The Saints decided to join the Folk alliance which was very hard to decide because some of their worst enemies were Folks like Latin Souls, Satan Disciples, Two Six and Two Two Boys.  Two Two Boys and Latin Souls joined Folks the same year.  The Saints for sure were not joining People alongside their worst enemy the Latin Kings; therefore, they chose Folks.  The decision turned out to be a good one for the Saints as they got in real tight with the Latin Folks in the prison system and gained respect from them as well.  The Saints honored the Latin Folks by becoming known as the Latin Saints whole behind bars and they adopted the pitchfork as a symbols while locked up.  Some old school Saint members that were incarcerated have pitchforks tattooed on them.  Once a Saint got out of prison he was no longer Folks or a Latin Saint.  The name Latin Saints and the Folk alliance never made it to the streets throughout Saint history and wars with Folks continued viciously.

In the year 1980, Saints now experienced many more gang wars and violence against enemies and by enemies as Mexican migration to the Back of the Yards became large.  Some of the recently arrived Mexican youths joined the ranks of the Saints but many others joined or brought in migrating gangs from other neighborhoods.  Two Six came in and boldly settled at 47th and Damen which was at the edge of Saint territory.  Saints attacked Two Six so viciously that they needed to team up with the Party Player two years later to handle the Saints.  The Party Players also needed assistance against the Saints.  Latin Souls migrated from 55th to 49th which clashed with the Saints too.  Bishops moved into 53rd and Winchester after flipping what was left of the Gaylords and Saints declared war on Bishops too.  Latin Kings now were official at 51st and Ada and war was on.  Satan Disciples and Two Two Boys settled 51st and Wood together which ignited yet another war with Saints.  The Saints found none of these migrating gangs to be allies and aimed to destroy them all.  For the next few decades the Saints would do incredible damage to these organizations despite being outnumbered.  That is an incredible accomplishment for any gang.

Most people on the streets familiarize the Saints with being part of the People alliance and this was a slow process over time that became tough to maintain on the streets through the years.  It began during the holidays of 1986 when two Saints who were brought into one of the Illinois prisons cliqued up with Latin Kings and joined the People alliance.  By this time many of the Saints that were attached to the Folk alliance in the early 80s had been released which began to deplete Folk influence within the Saints causing this part of history to be largely forgotten.

The branch of Saints from South Chicago rebranded themselves in 1981 as the Saint Spanish Gangster Disciples as they allied with Gangster Disciples and had influence from Maniac Latin Disciples.  By 1983 the Saint Spanish Gangster Disciples became the Spanish Gangster Disciples they are known as today as they separated from the Saints.

The Saints would often have conflicts with some of the many party crews in the neighborhoods.  The biggest enemy party crew was the 48th Street Boys from 48th and Laflin mainly because the 48th Street Boys acted like a gang causing many shootings back and forth between them.  In the year 1985 the 48th Street Boys came into contact with La Raza from the Pilsen neighborhood and all the 48th Street boys flipped to La Raza, thus, creating the 48th Street La Raza group that became a major rival of the Saints for years to come.

In 1989, Green Eyes from the Saints, while incarcerated came in contact with the Lord Gino, the leader of the Latin Kings and basically began the Saints’ influence into joining People in the prison system.

By the year 1990, the Saints were hanging out with Latin Kings in the streets and the Saints Joined the People alliance on the streets in 1990.

in 1994 the Latin Kings shot up a member of the Saints and killed him and the Saints were more than willing to go to war.  After this happened the Saints more or less returned to their renegade philosophy and were never big on the People alliance on the streets after the early 90s.

In the early and mid-1990s many small crews started up in the Back of The Yards that wanted to prove themselves as a down crew and were willing to fight anyone to achieve that title.  These crews were the Latin Taste, Turbo Boys, Knight Riders, D Boys (actually formed in the early 1980s), Paulina Boys, Honore Boys and the Wood Boys.  The Saints admired these new and upcoming crews and if they were down enough they would convince them to join, before you knew it the Saints absorbed the Latin Taste, Turbo Boys, Knight Riders, D Boys and Paulina Boys.

The Paulina Boys proved to be an excellent investment for the Saints as they proved to be down ass Saints too.  The Paulina Boys’ faction ventured into the Brighton Park neighborhood and opened territory at 42^nd Place and Albany.  The Saints would also open one up at 63^rd and Kostner in the West Lawn neighborhood.  Another satellite location was in the Bridgeport neighborhood at Archer Ave and Lock.  This new turf ended up bringing the Saints more trouble due to heavy police focus on them because they had a city wide reputation of being violent.  There was also a brief internal conflict between the Paulina Boys and the rest of the gang, but that was ended after a very short time.  The Paulinas were overzealous and wanted to expand further, but overall leadership saw that there was no potential in the satellite locations and shut them all down by the end of the 1990s.

Please send in old school pics.   1960s or 1970s pics will be especially appreciated!

Questions:

1. Who were other early rivals besides the Ravens?
2. What year did Archer and Lock open?  What year did it close and why?
3. What year did 42nd and Albany open?  What year it close and why?
4. What year did 38th open?  What year did it close and why?
5. What year did 63rd and Kostner open?  What year did close and why?

Known sections of the Saints past and present

Back of the Yards neighborhood Established 1959-present years

Sections of Back of the Yards

43^rd to 47^th, Damen to Ashland (Halo City, Heaven, Psycho Side, De La Wood) Established 1959-present years

48^th & Paulina

Bridgeport neighborhood 90s, 2000s

Sections of Bridgeport

Archer & Lock 90s, 2000s

Brighton Park neighborhood

Sections of Brighton Park

42^nd Pl & Albany

Garfield Ridge neighborhood

Sections of Garfield Ridge

54^th & Latrobe

McKinley Park neighborhood 90s

Sections of McKinley Park

38^th from Honore to Wood 90s

South Chicago neighborhood Established 1976-1981

Sections of South Chicago

87th & Houston Established 1976-1981

West Lawn neighborhood 90s

Sections of West Lawn 

63^rd & Kostner 90s

Suburbs

Burbank

Central Stickney

Summit 63^rd & Harlem