[1] Paraje is a term from the original Spanish speaking settlers, in use among English speakers in the southwestern United States, particularly in New Mexico, that refers to a camping place along a long distance trail where travelers customarily stopped for the night.
Parajes typically are spaced 10 to 15 miles apart and feature abundant water and fodder for the travelers' animals (oxen, cattle, sheep, donkeys, mules and horses).
In the most arid desert regions of these routes it was sufficient if the paraje had water, scarce at the best of times, but lethal if not available to man or beast, particularly in the hot, dry seasons of the year.
A second was the El Camino del Diablo, the route across the Sonoran Desert between Caborca, Sonora and the Yuma Crossing.
A third was the Anza Trail between the Yuma Crossing and the coastal mountains of Southern California across the Colorado Desert.