 Winship's party named this body of water as "Bay of Resanof", after Nikolai Rezanov, the Chamberlain of the Russian Tsar, and son-in-law of Grigory Shelikhov, who was the founder of the first Russian colony in North America.In 1849, an expedition of seven men led by Josiah Gregg attempted to find an overland route to the Pacific Ocean.They left from the gold town of Weaverville for the 150-mile trek to the sea.