Candelilla Wax Production Along the Rio Grande

Herbarium specimen of Candelilla (Euphorbia antisyphilitica). Collected by K. S. McQuilkin and S. G. McQuilkin
Candelilla Wax Production Along the Rio Grande
Exhibit located in the museum’s historic building
Adjacent to the candelilla exhibit, this selection of maps and objects will explore, in more detail, the proliferate production of candelilla wax along the Rio Grande, from western Val Verde County to El Paso. Although there was some mining for silver, mercury, and fluorspar; ranching; hunting and tourism; and cultivation of corn and cotton in irrigated fields along the river, the production of candelilla wax was most profitable.
Producing a very fine wax with multiple uses, and still harvested to this day, millions of pounds of wax were taken from transient wax camps where hardy workers, living off the land, gathered the plants, boiled them to release the raw wax and then transported it, by donkey (see the donkey saddle and cowhide backpack in the adjacent exhibit), to refining factories in Presidio, Marfa, and Alpine. Although the heyday of wax production ended in the 1980s due to dwindling reserves of candelilla plants, the wax is still an important resource in Mexico where it is imported into the United States, refined, and shipped around the world.
Candelilla
(kandəˈlē(y)ə)
Candelilla, Euphorbia antisyphilitica, also known simply as “the weed” (yerba), was first described by J.G. Zuccarini in 1832. Curiously, he did not mention that the plant produced wax, but he did note that the sap from the plant was used by Indians as a remedy for syphilis, and named it thusly. It is a rhizome, growing in clusters, commonly on well-drained limestone surfaces. It produces a wax that is second only to carnauba wax in hardness, and has been used medicinally for infection, warts, and in skin and hair products. Commercially, it has been used in candle making, chewing gum, candy, car and floor wax, and as a coating for coffee beans.
On the candelilla plant, the wax is coated on the surface of the stems to help prevent water loss in an arid environment. Wax makers (cereros) added sulfuric acid to the aqueous solution to prevent water from emulsifying with the wax, and to improve wax yield.

Cerero on burro
This photo is reproduced from Curtis Tunnell, “Wax, Men, and Money,” Texas Historical Commission, Austin, 1981. Photograph by Robert Mallouf.

While wax makers have been traditionally thought to be exclusively male, researcher JoAnn Pospisil found that up to 10% of the wax makers are female. These cereras are involved in every aspect of wax making, including harvesting candelilla, cooking, handling burros, and boiling the plants.
This photograph is reproduced from Texas Beyond History, Wax Camps, 2004. A retrospective of Curtis Tunnell’s “Wax, Men, and Money,” reconsidered. Photograph by Raymond Skiles

This map locates wax factories, refining plants, wax buyers, and associated towns. The map is a reproduction from Curtis Tunnell’s “Wax, Men, and Money,” showing Figure 4 compiled with the inset, Figure 1, that illustrates the native distribution of candelilla along the Rio Grande. Of special note are Glenn Springs, the site of one of the first factories; Presidio, also home to a wax factory, and Alpine, home to one of the last operating wax refineries in Texas.
Candelilla Wax Refining in Alpine
While Alpine and Presidio are both shown in this map, along Highway 90, Marathon is missing. However, all three towns are noteworthy for their involvement in the wax industry. It is unclear when the wax factory closed in Presidio, but the refining plants in Alpine and Marathon continued to operate into the late 1980s.
State Highway System of Texas Showing Condition of Improvement
Dallas Morning News
1928, Lithograph, 15 7/8″ x 15 1/8”
Kyle S. McQuilkin, Ph.D., Curator of the Yana and Marty Davis Map Collection
Kyle.McQuilkin@sulross.edu
432.837.8735
Visit the Museum of the Big Bend to view the full exhibit, Candelilla Wax Production Along the Rio Grande.
