Mountain goat domestication in the PNW/Rockies?

The mountain goat is a distant cousin of the Old World goat which lives in many environments in the northern Rockies and other mountains of the Northwest of North America. They are similar to feral goats, albeit larger, and to some degree meaner and more ill-tempered.

Goats were an early domesticate of Old World civilization, and very widespread as they are useful for their meat, milk, coat, and even for pulling carts in remote areas. The slightly larger mountain goat seems like it could excel at this too (although I have no clue how much milk a mountain goat produces, at least compared to a wild goat or other non-milk goat breed).

IOTL the Salish peoples of Washington were known for gathering mountain goat wool which had been shed thanks to the goats rubbing up against trees and walking through bushes. This is an interesting use of the goat, and the Salish were also generally sedentary thanks to the wealth of their land.

If the Salish population boomed while the mountain goat population shrank for whatever reason, or the some other domesticate arrived to "inspire" goat herding efforts (i.e reindeer), would they be a good candidate for mountain goat domestication? Or perhaps the Tlingit or another group toward their northern range which I'd imagine would have smaller mountain goats (less dangerous) due to less food and colder winters?

So if we presume a chance domestication of mountain goats at any point in the last 1,500-2000 years, what would the effects on North America (and beyond) be? Are mountain goats potentially revolutionary in that they could spread fairly widely and create much more resilient native civilizations all the way up to southern Alaska and the Yukon?
 
Getting mountain goats to the Ancestral Puebloans would be quite interesting, given their famously rough homes in cliffs. They are not native to the area, but in modern times have been introduced to that corner of Colorado/Utah so can clearly survive there (although care might be needed in warmer months to as to not exhaust the goat). Goats could supplement human labor to some degree and provide an extra source of meat while stimulating more weaving and textile production there. Would it be enough so they don't collapse/migrate south? Or even make it so they migrate north where the goats might have less problems from heat?
 
(Maybe) one last post here so I'm not just talking to myself. I believe mountain goat is the best chance for a domesticate here since the goats have a decent range, a sedentary population which made use of them (chilkat weaving, shared among Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshians, etc., and the Salish to the south had similar traditions), and the biology (social structure of the animals, which has one dominant male) which would encourage domestication (domesticated animals typically have social structures which allow humans to fit themselves into), assuming the hurdles of the animals occasionally being violent (like the meme of Hitler being killed by a mountain goat in some ATL--in addition to mountain lions, mountain goats have killed at least one person) are overcome. IMO this is doable--the ancestors of modern horses and cattle aren't exactly friendly. Mountain goats enjoy salt licks (which OTL were draws for American Indians for tens of thousands of years) as well as enjoy simple grasses and other crops, and migrate regularly between highlands (which involves crossing lowlands).

I've seen bighorn sheep suggested too for domestication, but I'm convinced the social structure of the sheep (no dominant animals except in mating season) would make them less likely candidates for domestication than mountain goats. The Dall sheep aka thinhorn sheep seems similar to the bighorn sheep in this context, except their range is even more limited. But regarding hypothetical domestications, is the mountain goat the best candidate, and does it necessarily exclude the two important North American sheep species?

Lastly, what is the southernmost range the mountain goat (and it's potential usefulness to humans) can be sustained in? If they had a bit of selective breeding (to reduce the thick coat) and the protection of humans (to ward off mountain lions, wolves, and other predators), would they have the same range as the bighorn sheep (down to the mountainous parts of Sonora in Mexico)? End up becoming the equivalent of the llama to the peoples in the mountainous parts of Mesoamerica?
 
Mountain Goats are VERY distant relatives of regular goats. Goats and sheep are rather closer to each other than either is to mountain Goats.
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Edit:. Hunh. Appears I am wrong here. It seems they are marginally closer to goats than to sheep. But they're closer yet to Muskoxen and Chamois.
 
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At higher elevations I wouldn't be worried about summer care.

It does make me wonder if the Great Plains are suitable for mountain goats. The Rockies would not be a barrier for a mountain goat herders, but the Plains with their hot summers might be. The Plains regularly have temperatures over 100 F in the summer. Would heat stroke in the summer and overexposure to predators (wolves, mountain lions, eagles) decimate the mountain goat population so much that the locals there wouldn't bother trying to breed hardier breeds and devote resources and time to protecting them?

Or for that matter the South. They could be very useful to the Mississippians, but the humid, sweltering summers would likely cause increased mortality (heat stroke, increased vulnerability to disease, etc.). Although the Mississippians would get their mountain goats from the Plains cultures (assuming they could) so they might be less vulnerable to heat-related issues so at that point you'd see more diversification in domesticated mountain goats.
 
It does make me wonder if the Great Plains are suitable for mountain goats. The Rockies would not be a barrier for a mountain goat herders, but the Plains with their hot summers might be. The Plains regularly have temperatures over 100 F in the summer. Would heat stroke in the summer and overexposure to predators (wolves, mountain lions, eagles) decimate the mountain goat population so much that the locals there wouldn't bother trying to breed hardier breeds and devote resources and time to protecting them?
I think such breeds would probably come more from peoples living at the margins between the Rockies and the Great Plains, where they would have refugia allowing them to maintain goat populations, but would still see benefits from having goats living on the plains proper. The advantages are probably great enough that they would try, try again. I don't know that they would succeed, necessarily, but they probably would bother.
 
Hmmm. You need a culture that is willing to make the investment in keeping the animals, rather than just killing free range ones whenever they need to.

Preferably, this would be a culture on the peripheries of mountain goat range, someplace where an investment in keeping the animals alive would be an improvement over hunting the rare specimen and getting the meat for free.
 
It does make me wonder if the Great Plains are suitable for mountain goats. The Rockies would not be a barrier for a mountain goat herders, but the Plains with their hot summers might be. The Plains regularly have temperatures over 100 F in the summer. Would heat stroke in the summer and overexposure to predators (wolves, mountain lions, eagles) decimate the mountain goat population so much that the locals there wouldn't bother trying to breed hardier breeds and devote resources and time to protecting them?

Or for that matter the South. They could be very useful to the Mississippians, but the humid, sweltering summers would likely cause increased mortality (heat stroke, increased vulnerability to disease, etc.). Although the Mississippians would get their mountain goats from the Plains cultures (assuming they could) so they might be less vulnerable to heat-related issues so at that point you'd see more diversification in domesticated mountain goats.
Could they be crossbred with something better-suited to warmer climates? Or something more easily (or already) domesticated?
 
It could be possible to domesticate the mountain goat. After all,humans were able to domesticate yaks,water buffalo,auroch and the boar to make cattle and pigs. The llama and alpaca were domesticated in the Andes along with the guinea pig. Now granted,it'd need agile,surefooted people who tend to rely on mountain goats for food. Maybe one of the Plateau or Great Basin tribes go on a successful hunt and bring back a few kids? Or a medicine man/woman has a vision about them and their potential to the People? Anyway,if they are kept,then you can be sure of selective breeding for less aggression,different size,better yield which all Herding societies do anyway,just look at the auroch,wild boar,jungle fowl,vicuna and guanaco. Or the wolf and African wildcat who are ancestors of domestic dogs and cats. And trade of domesticated mountain goats would certainly benefit the Ancestral Puebloans which might avoid their collapse.Hell,it could benefit the Mesoamericans,especially the sacrifice-happy Aztec since there is a ready supply of protein. And of course,yer looking at some disease.
 
Could they be crossbred with something better-suited to warmer climates? Or something more easily (or already) domesticated?

There is no equivalent in the Old World, and AFAIK you can't mix a mountain goat with an Old World sheep or goat anyway. Or any New World species, since I imagine the hybrid would be infertile like a mule at best. So you need pastoralists committed to protecting their goats against the harsh weather of the Plains and beyond.

It could be possible to domesticate the mountain goat. After all,humans were able to domesticate yaks,water buffalo,auroch and the boar to make cattle and pigs. The llama and alpaca were domesticated in the Andes along with the guinea pig. Now granted,it'd need agile,surefooted people who tend to rely on mountain goats for food. Maybe one of the Plateau or Great Basin tribes go on a successful hunt and bring back a few kids?

The issue is the mountain goat lived outside where agricultural peoples lived. Yes, the Salish, Chinook, Sahaptins, etc. were among the most "settled" hunter-gatherers in history thanks to the wealth of their land, but it would need to be groups like that who would domesticate the mountain goat. The Puebloans were outside the range of the mountain goat. And IMO food is not a good reason--it's the wool AND the meat. The Salish, Haida, Tlingit, and others prized blankets made of mountain goat wool.

Or a medicine man/woman has a vision about them and their potential to the People? Anyway,if they are kept,then you can be sure of selective breeding for less aggression,different size,better yield which all Herding societies do anyway,just look at the auroch,wild boar,jungle fowl,vicuna and guanaco. Or the wolf and African wildcat who are ancestors of domestic dogs and cats. And trade of domesticated mountain goats would certainly benefit the Ancestral Puebloans which might avoid their collapse.Hell,it could benefit the Mesoamericans,especially the sacrifice-happy Aztec since there is a ready supply of protein. And of course,yer looking at some disease.
It's true, but it depends on how much heat the mountain goat can tolerate. Ancestral Puebloans built their towns toward the sun to maximise the agricultural potential. This focuses the desert heat toward an animal which prefers shaded forests and high mountains of latitudes north of Colorado. This means extra human management.

Disease, I'm not so sure of. Mutations, yeah, but I'm not sure of the innate disease potential the mountain goat has. Those who are often around mountain goats may fall ill with zoonoses, but it's a roll of the dice for those diseases to become widespread in other people. From what I can tell, many mountain goat diseases are those which exist in Old World goats, sheep, and cattle anyway.
 
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