Vito Cascio Ferro was quite a seminal figure in Mafia history. Around 1900, he came to New Orleans (where the first Mafia family in America had been established) to build links 'twixt Sicily and America, and to open up a transoceanic heroin pipeline. Despite the long-established nature of the New Orleans Mafia, Don Vito imposed himself at its head through sheer force of personality. In fact, his notoriety, and the scary nature of the Sicilian/American alliance that he established, motivated NYC detective Joseph Petrosino to make his famous trip to Sicily, where he was murdered by three gunmen (one of them Don Vito, according to legend. This incident was portrayed in a pretty poor B-movie, "The Black Hand," with Ernest Borgnine playing Petrosino. He was also rumored to have sent Salvatore Maranzano, Joe Bonanno's patron and predecessor, to America, though Bonanno doesn't mention Don Vito in his autobiography. Like other Sicilian Mafia bigwigs, Don Vito was arrested and jailed by Mussolini. He died in prison after WWII.
BTW: I ordered that Life Magazine book from Amazon. Will offer my opinion when it arrives. Thanks for the tip, BK!