More research conundrums.

Updated, March 27

So I was doing some more research into orange vs green clashes, and I ran into one I was previously unaware: the Corpus Christi Riot of May 29, 1864.  What happened then, you may well ask?

Good question.  I have so far found three sources that published what are claimed to be eyewitness accounts of the event: The Globe, The Irish Canadian, and the Canadian Freeman.  The first is a party organ for the Grits, and, in 1864, very anti Catholic.  George Brown would become more tolerant towards Catholics in later years, perhaps after he realized he had a better chance at swaying the Catholic voters away from the Conservative Party, which was largely dominated by Orangemen. The other two were Irish Catholic newspapers, whose opinion ranged from anti Orange to virulently anti Orange.

The riot, such as it was, had several parallels to the Jubilee Riots eleven years later, and happened like this:  Bishop Lynch placed an announcement in a newspaper (this time The Canadian Freeman) that there was to be a procession in honour of Corpus Christi.  The Catholics of the city began to prepare the Cathedral for the day, decking it out in ribbons, banners and flags.  The day before the procession, the bishop got a note from the Mayor (Mayor Medcalf, who would again be Mayor at the time of the Jubilee riots) stating that there were several citizens in his office who were deeply concerned about the proposed procession, and had certain knowledge that if said procession were to take place outside of the Cathedral precincts, there would be trouble.  Bishop Lynch quickly replied that the procession was going to be from the front door of the cathedral to a temporary altar in the garden, as announced.  Furthermore, he reminded the mayor, that as per the Treaty of Paris of 1863, Catholics had the same rights as Protestants in Canada.

The next day there was a large Mass at the Cathedral.  Inclement weather stopped the procession at that time, but by the evening the weather had cleared, so it was decided to have the procession following Vespers.  A large crowd attended Mass, including some curious Protestants.  There was also a large crowd of Protestants gathered outside the Cathedral gates.  The procession began, leaving out the west doors of the Cathedral and immediately turned right to go into the gardens.  There was a disturbance at one of the gates, and some of the Catholics, who were already apprehensive after hearing about threats and rumours of violence- coupled with unease over the large crowd of Protestants surrounding the Cathedral- panicked. At this time, a local fire hall's bell began to ring, adding to the chaos. There was a mad dash of screaming and women and children running away in different directions, along with some general pandemonium.  It was some time before order was restored.

That was basically the riot.  The papers were agreed about that much.  Where they disagreed was on the disturbance at the gate.  According to The Globe,  the disturbance at the gate was someone trying to get in, Normally, 'so slight a disturbance' would not have been noticed, but apprehension about a fight was so great, people thought this was the fight they feared, and panic ensued.

The Irish Canadian had a different take on the matter.  While in the church, the good bishop had welcomed the curious Protestants, and had told them they were welcome to stay for the procession, but if they did so they were expected to show respect to the host as it passed.  A group of Protestants, however, had refused to remove their hats, and when asked to leave, had caused the disturbance that set off the panic.  The firebell was deliberate- the Orange Lodge effectively controlled the fire department at the time, and the Protestant firemen frequently rang their bells to disrupt Catholic rites.

Then there was The Canadian Freeman.  According to them, the crowd outside the Cathedral numbered about 12,000, and constantly shouted "To hell with the pope!" during the entire service and procession.  A group of Orangemen (whom the paper referred to in a story about the Peterborough St Patrick' Day riot as "the very scum of creation")  tried to force an entrance through the gate, and when denied, drew pistols and began shooting through the bars into the crowd, thus setting off the panic.  Likewise, the firebell was deliberate.

Those are the three different takes on the event I have found so far.  If I find The Leader,  it would have another version still.  What's the truth?

Update:  I found the Leader's article, and I was right.  The original disturbance at the gate was due to the crush of people trying to get in.  A man stepped on a woman's dress, causing her to be upset and start haranguing him.  There was a second disturbance when the Host, or "Host" as the Leader insists on calling it, was brought out.  Some Protestants were standing on the grounds, and were about to take off their hats, as was only right, when some roughs among the Catholics knocked their hats from their heads, causing another fight.  One of the Protestants was chased from the grounds by Catholics and took refuge in a house down another street.  Doubtless he would have been murdered.   In this fight some men drew their six shooters.  Shortly after, the fire bell from the Bay street station began to ring for unrelated reasons, and some silly Catholics thought that the protestants had set fire to the Cathedral.  No mention is made of a large Protestant crowd surrounding the Cathedral.