“The Goat and the Wild Goat”

Alan C. Miner

Glenn Scott notes in regards to Nephi's reference to "the goat and the wild goat" (1 Nephi 18:25) that there is no mention in the record of Lehi's colony of them bringing either sheep or goats with them, but both are found wild in the Sierra Madre mountains of Central America (see Illustration of curious mountain sheep and goats). Thus, if the Nephites did domesticate either of those native Ovines, it would be impossible to distinguish their remains from those of the wild variety. In 1976, Albert Loving reported a goat-horned deer in the forests of Mexico, which he believed to be the wild goats Nephi referred to. However, he also reported that he had unearthed fossilized bones and horns of a domestic-type goat under seven feet of caliche clay in Morelos, Mexico. [Glenn A. Scott, Voices from the Dust, p. 91]

1 Nephi 18:25 The goat and the wild goat ([Illustration]): Native American Sheep and Goats. Two examples of how easily the Nephites could have domesticated native sheep and goats. [Glenn A. Scott, Voices from the Dust, p. 90]

“The Goat and the Wild Goat”

A F.A.R.M.S. annotated bibliography by John Sorenson deals with evidence for pre-Columbian animals in America. The following ideas may illustrate why evidence for the "goat" and "wild goat" (1 Nephi 18:25) is not perfectly clear:

According to Karl Dieter Gartelmann, "The diary of Bartolome Ruiz, one of Pizarro's original 16th-century group of conquerors, is quoted in extenso on the finding by the first Spanish ship along the Manabi coast of Ecuador of a land called Calangone. "Their speech is not unlike Arabic. . . . There are many sheep there and goats and cats and dogs and other animals, and geese and doves, and it is there that . . . blankets are made of wool and cotton." Sheep are sacrificed in front of (a certain) statue at certain times."

Whatever the zoological identity of the animals referred to (probably camelids for "sheep" and "goats"), this Spaniard's naming them is of interest. Conventional goats and cats are supposed absent from America. [John L. Sorenson, "Animals in the Book of Mormon: An Annotated Bibliography," F.A.R.M.S., pp. 11-12]

In addition, Sorenson asks, "how did an untamed 'goat' differ from a 'wild goat'?" The traits distinguishing the categories are not apparent." [John Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, F.A.R.M..S., p. 289]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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