Saltese (also Packers Meadow or Silver City) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Mineral County, Montana, United States. It lies in the valley of the St. Regis River along Interstate 90 at exit 10. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10.

History

"Saltese is an old gold and silver mining town that took its name from a Nez Perce leader, Chief Saltese." "The town was first known as Silver City but was renamed in 1891." The post office opened in 1892. In December 1912, David D. Bogart, the sixth mayor of Missoula, Montana, was killed in an avalanche in Saltese while prospecting for gold. In 1996, a longtime establishment, the Old Montana Bar and Grille, was destroyed in a fire.

Geography

Saltese is in northwestern Mineral County at an elevation of 3370 ft in the narrow valley of the St. Regis River, where it is joined by Packer Creek from the north and by Silver Creek from the south. The St. Regis is a southeast-flowing tributary of the Clark Fork River. Interstate 90 passes through the community, leading southeast 36 mi to Superior, the Mineral county seat, and northwest over Lookout Pass 16 mi to Mullan, Idaho. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Saltese CDP has an area of 0.33 sqmi, all of it recorded as land.

Demographics