One thing about both St. Louis and Chicago was that they were both deep, deep, deep into the cities' political structures--I think even more so than in the Northeast. Both were able to buy themselves a lot of protection and a lot of secrecy--the SLPD, for example, has never admitted the existence of an LCN family here (not that they have to now, since it's more or less extinct). I think both the Giordanos and the Outfit were protected from on high--in St. L by Mayor Cervantes and about a zillion different aldermen, in Chicago by Daley.

My brother, who lived in Chicago for years, described native Chicagoans as "a breed apart," and the same holds true for their "family." I've never been able to decide whether the Outfit is am LCN family according to the standard definition. I've heard they don't make guys in the traditional way--I've heard they make non-Italians--I've heard that there was tension early on between them and other cities because Capone was a Neapolitan, not a Sicilian--I've heard all kinds of weird stuff about them. Not sure what to believe and what not to believe.

Russo and Roemer aside, a lot of what is said about Chicago seems to be mostly guesswork and rumors.