The thing is, with bonsai and bristlecone pines, I don't believe there is a way to recreate a thousand years or so of struggle and injury in a human lifetime with a tree you grow or collect. You may be able to simulate it.
I agree, there is a fundamental difference between growing bonsai from seed, in a pot, and a tree growing in harsh environment in nature. In bonsai culture, when growing a young seedling, fast growth is a requirement. As soon as the seedling stops growing, death follows. You cannot grow a seedling slowly, as it happens with a pine that grows on a rock in high elevation. It's impossible to replicate those conditions, and besides, you don't have 500 years to wait for the result anyway.
In nature, there are years when the tree almost completely stops growing, due to droughts and other factors. In a bonsai pot, if your tree stops growing for a year or two, you are almost assured that the tree is slowly dying.
No, you need to induce fast growing, and then create character by means of pruning, carving, wiring, etc. The result looks similar, but the path is very different.