Frémont's California Battalion during the Bear Flag Revolt. Marshall volunteered and served under Captain John C. Soon after this, the Mexican–American War began in May 1846. It was here that Marshall began his second stint as a farmer. He also helped Marshall to buy two leagues of land on the north side of Butte Creek (a tributary of the Sacramento River) and provided him with cattle. Sutter hired Marshall to assist with work at the sawmill, and around the fort (carpentry, primarily). John Sutter, the founder of Sutter's Fort, was also the alcalde of the area, as California was still a Mexican possession in 1845. He left Oregon in June 1845 and headed south along the Siskiyou Trail into California, eventually reaching Sutter's Fort, California, an agricultural settlement, in mid-July. He joined an emigrant train heading west and arrived in Oregon's Willamette Valley in the spring of 1845. On the advice of his doctor, Marshall left Missouri in the hopes of improving his health. It was there that he contracted malaria, a common affliction in the area. After spending time in Indiana and Illinois, he settled in Missouri (in an area created by the Platte Purchase) in 1844, and began farming along the Missouri River. James left New Jersey in 1834 and headed west. In 1816, the Marshall family relocated to nearby Lambertville, where Philip constructed a house on approximately five acres of land. He was the oldest of four children, and the only male. The family homestead was known as the Round Mountain Farm and is still known as Marshalls Corner. James Wilson Marshall, of English descent, was born to Philip Marshall and Sarah Wilson (married 1808) at the family homestead in Hopewell Township, New Jersey (then part of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, currently part of Mercer County) on October 8, 1810.

Neither Marshall nor Sutter ever profited from the gold find. The wave of gold seekers turned everyone's attention away from the mill which eventually fell into disrepair and was never used as intended. The mill property was owned by Johann (John) Sutter who employed Marshall to build his mill. His discovery was the impetus for the California Gold Rush. James Wilson Marshall (Octo– August 10, 1885) was an American carpenter and sawmill operator, who on Janureported the finding of gold at Coloma, California, a small settlement on the American River about 36 miles northeast of Sacramento.

Interrupted Journey by James Wilson