The history of the Copper Country (Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan's Upper Peninsula) is fascinating and something you might enjoy too. I believe it was the most profitable mining boom in North American history.
History of the Copper Country was a course I took in college, and one of my favorites. Dr. Larry Lankton was an incredible prof, and his books 'Cradle to the Grave' and 'Beyond the Boundaries' were very good. You might enjoy them. Very much a frontier.
If you like that sort of history I'd HIGHLY reccomend visiting the Keweenaw. Houghton (Where I went to school) is an awesome town. Calumet is really neat too, and Painesdale still looks like it did 100 years ago. There are tons of old mines, and the sandstone architecture is beautiful. I've got some photos of an old smelter in Houghton on my profile.
The photos on http://www.pasty.com/ are mainly from that region.
Living in Alaska reminds me a lot of living in Upper Michigan, only we have mountains here. I absolutely love Alaska, but it is definitely a place people either love or hate. I imagine that lots of big dreams have been shattered here, and people broken down to nothing.
I haven't been to McCarthy/Kennecott, AK to visit the Kennecott Copper mine yet but I plan to. Kennecott, and the Keweenaw, MI mines I believe are the only ones in N. America where pure, metallic copper was mined.
McCarthy, AK: http://www.steliasguides.com/mccarthy.htm
Seriously, I will look into the books you've mentioned. I'm always looking for interesting reading material and it's nice to have personal recommendations.