1909, Princess Victoria and the Triangle Route

 

Canadian Pacific Rail's Princess Victoria in Victoria Harbour, BC

 

Vasco arrived in Victoria, British Columbia in mid-1909. He immediately hit upon a scheme to travel CPRs ferries on a triangle route between Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver. In the period 1909-1913 he made a reasonable living sketching passengers during summer. In winter he seems to have travelled elsewhere, certainly California but perhaps also eastern Canada. Vasco and his modus operandi were described at some length in an article in a Vancouver newspaper in 1909. He seems to have been adept at getting publicity, which also suggests that CPR were fine with what he was doing. (He kept the clipping and the story is dated 'Victoria, July 30' but the name of the paper and the actual date on which the story appeared is uncertain.)