Image: Map showing historic candelilla wax camps, refineries, and trade routes along the Rio Grande, reproduced from Curtis Tunnell’s Wax, Men, and Money. Notable locations include Glenn Springs, Presidio, and Alpine—key sites in the wax industry.
An ongoing exhibit at the Museum of the Big Bend highlights the history and economic impact of candelilla wax production along the Rio Grande, once one of the most profitable industries in the region.
Located in the museum’s historic building, Candelilla Wax Production Along the Rio Grande explores how millions of pounds of wax were produced and transported from remote wax camps stretching from western Val Verde County to El Paso. Despite the presence of silver, mercury, and fluorspar mining, as well as ranching and irrigated farming, candelilla wax became a key economic driver along the river.
The exhibit includes a range of historical items such as a donkey saddle and cowhide backpack used to carry wax to refining plants in Presidio, Marfa, and Alpine. It also features a reproduction of a map from Curtis Tunnell’s Wax, Men, and Money, showing the locations of wax camps and refineries across the region. Glenn Springs, Presidio, and Alpine are among the sites marked for their historical importance in the trade.
Candelilla, or Euphorbia antisyphilitica, grows in clusters on limestone surfaces and produces a fine, hard wax that coats its stems to prevent water loss. Harvested by wax makers—known as cereros—the plant was boiled to extract the wax, with sulfuric acid added to the solution to separate the wax from water and improve yields.
Although commonly thought of as a male-dominated trade, the exhibit notes research by JoAnn Pospisil indicating that women, or cereras, made up about 10% of wax makers and were actively involved in harvesting, boiling, and transporting the plant.
A herbarium specimen of candelilla collected by K. S. McQuilkin and S. G. McQuilkin is also on display, along with historical photographs by Robert Mallouf and Raymond Skiles documenting wax production camps and workers.
Though the heyday of Texas wax production ended in the 1980s due to declining plant availability, candelilla wax remains an important export from Mexico, where it continues to be harvested and refined for global use in products such as chewing gum, cosmetics, floor wax, and coatings.
For more information, contact Kyle S. McQuilkin, Ph.D., curator of the Yana and Marty Davis Map Collection, at 432-837-8735 or Kyle.McQuilkin@sulross.edu.
The exhibit remains on view at the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine.
