PUBLIC OUTRAGE
Extensive and complicated investigations and lawsuits resulted after the disaster. Almost all of the ship's officers and many crew members were arrested, questioned, and investigated. Because the general public was so distraught about the loss of life, hasty, uneducated assumptions were formed regarding the cause of the tragedy and the extent to which the crew was responsible. Erickson and the Eastland's captain Harry Pederson initially took the brunt of the accusations.

The Chicago Record-Herald began presenting pertinent questions about the origin of the fault of the disaster in late July. Questions posed by the paper included: Why was the ship's capacity changed from 2000 to 2500? How did such a top-heavy ship ever pass maritime inspections? Why were the ballast tanks utilized so ineffectively? And why were there so many problems with the valves used to operate the ballast tanks? There was also a rumor that the ship passengers had not been carefully counted as they boarded the ship, and that the ship may have been filled beyond its capacity.

THE INVESTIGATIONS BEGIN