Before my meeting with Chris, I read her book about Kate Morgan and the ghostly activity at the Hotel del Coronado. According to the records, a young woman claiming to be Lottie Bernard checked in to the hotel just before Thanksgiving, 1892. She seemed upset and ill, and had no luggage. She explained that her brother, Dr. Anderson, had the claim ticket for her luggage. They had been traveling together by train and had become separated. As soon as he arrived, she assured the curious hotel staff, he would bring her suitcase and take care of her.
Over the next couple of days, the hotel staff became increasingly concerned as she appeared sicker and sicker, and her brother never arrived. One day, she took a streetcar into San Diego, where she purchased a pistol and ammunition. She was found dead early the next morning, just outside the hotel.
The investigation into the death of this "beautiful stranger" turned up more questions than answers. The newspapers reported that Lottie Bernard was an alias. The mysterious woman was finally identified as Kate Morgan, who traveled with her husband, Thomas, on trains across the country. The couple made their living conning fellow passengers by posing as brother and sister and setting up poker games.
