Paraje was a populated place along the east bank of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

, in Socorro County,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, United States, now a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

. It is located north northeast of the

Fra Cristobal Range The Fra Cristobal Range, (Fra Cristóbal Range) is a 17 mi (27 km) long, mountain range in central-north Sierra County, New Mexico. Its northern extreme above Fra Cristobal Mountain extends into Socorro County. The range borders the ...

History

Paraje de Fray Cristóbal

The site of Paraje was originally an area known to the first Spanish colonists of New Mexico as Paraje de Fray Cristóbal. It was a

paraje Paraje, a Spanish term meaning in English place or spot. 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 alon ...

, an unpopulated stopping place along the old

Camino Real de Tierra Adentro El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (), also known as the Silver Route, was a Viceroyalty of New Spain, Spanish road between Mexico City and San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, San Juan Pueblo (''Ohkay Owingeh''), New Mexico (in the modern U.S.), that wa ...

from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It was the first watering and grazing place along the Rio Grande available, after the crossing of the

Jornada del Muerto Jornada del Muerto was the name given by the Spanish conquistadors to the Jornada del Muerto desert Endorheic basin, basin, and the almost waterless trail across the Jornada beginning north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, Las Cruces and ending sout ...

from the south or the last such stop before entering it from the north. Travelers passed through the north northwest–south southeast trending Lava Gate between the difficult terrain of the

Jornada del Muerto Volcano The Jornada del Muerto Volcano is a small shield volcano and lava field in central New Mexico, about in size and reaching an elevation of . Jornada del Muerto means "Dead Man's Route" in Spanish language, Spanish, referring to the desolate col ...

''malpaís'' (lava field) to the northeast of it and the foothills of the

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

to the southwest which funneled travelers to the paraje on the Rio Grande. The paraje and the mountains to the south were named after a priest, Fray Cristóbal de Salazar, a cousin of

Juan de Oñate Juan de Oñate y Salazar (; 1550–1626) was a Spanish conquistador, explorer and viceroy of the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in the viceroyalty of New Spain, in the present-day U.S. state of New Mexico. He led early Spanish expedition ...

, with the first colonizing expedition in 1598.George D. Torok, From the Pass to the Pueblos, Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, Dec 1, 2011

Paraje

Until after the establishment of

Fort Conrad Fort Conrad was a U.S. Army fort established in Socorro County, New Mexico Territory in 1851. Fort Conrad was located near modern Tiffany, New Mexico. It was on the west side of the Rio Grande. Because of its location, it was later abandoned for ...

(1851) and later

Fort Craig Fort Craig was a U.S. Army fort located along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, near Elephant Butte Lake State Park and the Rio Grande in Socorro County, New Mexico. The Fort Craig site was approximately 1,050 feet east-west by 600 feet nor ...

(1854), Paraje de Fray Cristobal, remained an unpopulated stopping place along the old Camino Real. The settlement of Paraje began about 1857 as an agricultural settlement and stopping place, that was ultimately populated by 200 people. They traded with the nearby forts and with passing travelers on the

at the northern entrance to the

. It was the first water and grazing available along the Rio Grande after the crossing of the Jornada del Muerto from the south and the last before entering it from the north. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

in 1861 - 1862, Paraje was briefly garrisoned by 140 New Mexican Militia men, including a detachment of Captain Hubbell's New Mexican Volunteer Cavalry Company, guarding against the Confederate forces to the south in

Confederate Arizona The Arizona Territory, Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as Confederate Arizona, was an Constitution of the Confederate States, organized incorporated territory of the Confederate States of America that existed from August 1, 1861, to ...

. Captain Hubbell's detachment participated in the Skirmish near Fort Thorn on September 26, 1861. Robert Nicholson Scott, Henry Martyn Lazelle, George Breckenridge Davis, Leslie J. Perry, Joseph William Kirkley, Frederick Crayton Ainsworth, John Sheldon Moodey, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, SERIES I, VOLUME IV, United States. War Dept, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1882
Jerry D. Thompson, A Civil War History of the New Mexico Volunteers and Militia, UNM Press, Albuquerque, 2015
/ref> Between 1867 and 1910, Paraje had its own post office. The population began to decline after the 1910s after the development of the plan to build a dam down river. By the end of the 1920s, Paraje became a ghost town. In 1942, the site was first submerged by the

Elephant Butte Reservoir Elephant Butte Reservoir is a reservoir on the southern part of the Rio Grande in the U.S. state of New Mexico, north of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, Truth or Consequences. The reservoir is the 84th largest man-made lake in the United Sta ...

. Later exposed by the retreat of the waters of the reservoir, some ruins and artifacts can be seen in the area.

References

{{authority control Geography of Socorro County, New Mexico Ghost towns in New Mexico Jornada del Muerto