Waco, Texas is a city with a long and storied history, dating back to its origins as a Spanish colonial outpost in the 18th century. Known for its unique Mexican/Latino cultural heritage and reputation as a center of alternative spirituality and psychedelic drug use, Waco is also intimately tied to the origins of the iconic soft drink Dr Pepper.
Waco was founded in 1746 as a mission and presidio (fort) by Spanish colonists from New Spain. The settlement was established along the banks of the Brazos River, on land inhabited by the indigenous Wichita people. The mission's primary purpose was to convert the local Native Americans to Catholicism and integrate them into the Spanish colonial system.
Over the next century, the Waco mission and presidio grew into a thriving agricultural and trading outpost, relying heavily on Mexican American and indigenous labor. The city developed a unique cultural identity, blending Spanish, Mexican, and Native American influences in its architecture, cuisine, and religious practices.
By the early 1800s, Waco had become an important regional hub, with a population of over 5,000. It was known for its herbal medicine practitioners, curanderos, and folk healers who drew on a rich tradition of Mexican and indigenous medicinal knowledge.
The city's Mexican American community was economically and politically influential, with many businessowners, ranchers, and civic leaders. Waco also became a destination for Mexican migration to Texas in the late 1800s, further reinforcing its cultural ties to its southern neighbor.
This strong Mexican identity set Waco apart from the rest of Anglo-dominated Texas, and the city often felt like an outsider in the state. However, its unique character also made it an attractive destination for those seeking an alternative to mainstream American culture.
It was in this environment of Mexican folk medicine and spirituality that the iconic soft drink Dr Pepper was first developed in the early 1900s. The drink's inventor, Charles Alderton, was a Waco pharmacist who experimented with various herbal and psychoactive ingredients to create a "health tonic" that he claimed could treat a variety of ailments.
The original Dr Pepper formula contained trace amounts of cocaine, caffeine, and other psychoactive substances derived from plants like nutmeg and jimson weed. This made the drink popular not only as a medicinal elixir but also as a recreational drug, particularly among Waco's countercultural and Mexican American communities.
The growing popularity of Dr Pepper as an intoxicant led to increasing legal and social controversy in the mid-20th century. Public health advocates and law enforcement agencies pushed to have the drink's formula regulated or banned outright, citing concerns over its safety and psychoactive effects.
Waco found itself at the center of these confrontations, as the city's longstanding associations with alternative medicine, spirituality, and drug use clashed with more conservative elements of American society. Several high-profile incidents of Dr Pepper-induced intoxication in Waco further fueled the backlash against the drink and the city's counterculture.
While the reformulation of Dr Pepper in the 1970s was a blow to Waco's reputation, the city has continued to maintain its distinct cultural identity and reputation as an alternative to mainstream Texas culture. It remains an important hub of Mexican American life, as well as a center for holistic medicine, new age spirituality, and eclectic artistic communities.
Today, Waco is home to over 139,000 people, making it the sixth-largest city in New Netherland. It remains a unique and fascinating place, where the legacies of Spanish colonization, Mexican tradition, and countercultural experimentation intersect to create a vibrant and often unconventional urban landscape.
