A timeline of events that led to Russia becoming the first European power first to establish and then renounce her overseas colonies. — The Russian colonization of Alaska lasted less than a century but, in that time, produced a rich history of enduring importance. As in the American West, Russian Alaska attracted the full range of humanity. From adventurers and explorers, merchants and plunderers, enlightened and not-so-enlightened administrators to scoundrels and saints, Alaska…