There is a good article about the Mineral King project at
http://www.mickeynews.com/Columns/DisplayColumn.asp_Q_id_E_423. It doesn't have any renderings of the village, but it does give a fairly complete description of what was supposed to be there. Jim Hill has an old fact sheet, complete with some concept art, at
http://jimhillmedia.com/article.php?id=1500 for the "lets try this again" plan at Independence Lake. I believe the main Sierra Club website has some information about "the other side". If you have access to a large college library, The Sacramento Bee or the San Jose Mercury News would be the two most "local" newspapers. I think the Los Angeles Times carried a lot of stories on the battle as well.
Some basic additional comments. Walt had always enjoyed the mountains. It's said one of his favorite trips was through Switzerland and that gave
Disneyland its Matterhorn and the started the movie
Third Man on the Mountain. Even though Disneyland was a few years old, Walt was anxious to see what else he could build. After creating the "show" for the 1960 Winter Olympics, he figured it out.
There was also a practical side as well. Disneyland, as well as the planned WDW, were heavily attended in the summer and very, very slow in the summer. No parent would have dared to take a child out of school for a trip to an amusement park in the in 1960's and 1970's*. So Walt Disney Productions was rolling with cash in the summer and starving in the winter. Having a resort with the opposite attendance (and a more adult crowd), would help even out the business.
Walt Disney was a part owner of the Celebrity Sports Center near Denver, and the Disney Company managed the place for a long. Originally it was going to be Disney's testing ground for the Mineral King recreation facilities; it was also the training ground for WDW's new resort operations.
Its said the Mineral King's 'Country Bear Jamboree' was the last project Disney saw. An Imagineer took some concept art to his hospital room to show him.
There are also some stories around the lot that end of the Mineral King/Independence Lake project was the beginning of EPCOT Center. Before, there were separate plans for World Showcase near the existing TTC and a "Technology Showcase"/Industrial Development along the US192 (both were concepts from Walt's EPCOT). At the time, Disney could only afford to build one because of the money needed for Independence Lake. But the late Card Walker was so angry at California for it's refusal to back Disney that he wanted all future development to happen in Florida (where Disney, through the Reedy Creek Development District, wasn't subject to lawsuits and environmental concerns). With budget now suddenly doubled, the legend is someone at WED pushed the models of the two "half parks" together and created one monster park.
* The problem for Disney was so bad that WDW used to offer "lesson plans" that could be sent to your child's school so they could earn credit while away from the classroom. Times, especially attitudes to education, have changed.
