Binnie, thank you for that. The whole pre Commission arrangement really isn't clear. We needed Bill Bonanno just to tell us that there were originally 3 families and not 5. Of course after you organize a thing, you have everyone on record, what their rank is, who their skipper is, and on and on. But back in the dark ages, back when "guys were blowing each other up every 2 minutes just because they came from a different part of Sicily", it's extremely murky. We shouldn't argue or try to impose our beliefs onto others regarding the pre-1931 Mafia. We should relish the discovery process of shining light into that dark part of American history and the history of many of our major American cities.

In regards to your comment Binnie, I must add that Gaetano Reina, just like the Morellos (and Terranova's?) was Corleonesi and probably mafia before he even came to America. So basically, most if not all of the Corleonesi were allied to Masseria, and all of the Castellammaresi were allied to Don Maranzano. But Maranzano was a Castellammaresi himself. Masseria was not from Corleone so far as we know. Yet the Corleonesi acknowledged him as the Boss.

Something is left out.