Hi Garden Boy,
Not all that much is being done with the cultivation of mosses though there are a few persons and businesses who push moss gardens or moss lawns. The Japanese are perhaps the foremost experts in the cultivation of moss. I have no idea if there is any internet information from that part of the world IN ENGLISH that would provide relevant information.
However, being in Alaska you should have access to all kinds of native mosses. I believe your best bet is to learn about your native mosses if you have the opportunity.
Here is a great link that introduces some of the native species.
Mosses of Alaska

With the transplanting of mosses to your home garden what you need to learn about is the type of habitat that the moss that you are moving comes from. I would suggest seeing if there are any books on the different types of habitats in Alaska or make your own observations.

Without knowing what kind of moss you moved it would be difficult to know why the moss failed apart from presuming that it was not suited to the place where you planted it. Perhaps it was a sphagnum species and that would have needed a boggy spot to do well in.

If you have a camera images are always helpful. Please check out my link below to see just what kind of images are helpful. As close as possible but with more general shots as well!

Also my experimentation with the cultivation of mosses is on going. Gots several to write about !!

Here is a link that might be useful: What research that I am being done