 Although he became famous following the discovery of gold by his employee James W. Marshall and the mill-making team at Sutter's Mill, Sutter saw his own business ventures fail during the California Gold Rush.Those of his elder son, John Augustus Sutter Jr., were more successful.Johann August Sutter was born on February 23, 1803, in Kandern, Baden (present-day Germany); his father came from the nearby town of Rünenberg in the Canton of Basel in Switzerland.