Boone first heard of the lands of Kentucky while he was serving with General Braddock in 1755. The person he heard it from was John Findley, another member of the wagon train. Findley had been there as a trader at a Shawnee village called "Blue Lick". He talked about Kentucky as a paradise full of wild game. Boone decided he had to see Kentucky. On a long hunt in the winter of 1767–68 he, his brother Squire and a friend named William Hill moved westward trying to find Kentucky. They reached as far as the present site of Prestonsburg, Kentucky where they remained the rest of the winter. Not realizing they had reached Kentucky, they returned to North Carolina in the spring. Boone again met John Findley and asked him for the route from North Carolina to Kentucky. Findley was not a but did know of a trail the Cherokee used when they made war on the Carolina colonies. In the summer of 1769 Boone and five companions used the warrior's trail to get to Kentucky. They hunted and explored the area. Most of his friends were killed or captured by Indians, but Boone and his brother escaped every time. He made another attempt to reach eastern Kentucky in 1763 but had to turn back. In 1775 he founded the settlement of Boonesborough, Kentucky.