Captain John Sutter's origins were in Switzerland. There, he was a storekeeper but abandoned his trade (as well as his family and debtors) as his business began to fail. After arriving in California in July of 1839, he acquired a large land grant from the Mexican government, who claimed the land at the time. On this land, he built Sutter's Fort, where he sold important supplies to the new influx of residents. Sutter's Fort is on the present-day site of the city of Sacramento.
Unlike his previous attempts in Switzerland, Sutter's Fort prospered. He owned 12,000 head of cattle, 2,000 horses and mules, more than 10,000 sheep, and 1,000 hogs. He also had greater than one thousand people working for him, one of which was James Marshall, the foreman heading up the Sutter's Mill project in Coloma. At this site is where the discovery that would catalyze the gold rush occured. Also included in his employ were various groups of Mormons, Indians, Americans moved west, and Mexicans native to the area.
Immediately after news of the gold discoveries became wide spread, Sutter's business prospered even more than it had previously. At the end of the day, all of his supplies would be sold. The goods that he supplied were in such high demand that he charged exceedingly exorbitant prices for them. They would still disappear off of the shelf as fast as he could unpack them.
As the 49ers flooded into the region, Sutter's business was ruined. They squatted his land, and he received nothing in return. In addition, he lost most of employees to the mines. They all wanted to try their hand at gold prospecting. Immediately after the completion of the mill, those workers went to working at the diggings full time. Soon after, Sutter's Fort was left with no one to work it as well. He lost all of his wealth and died bitter and disappointed.