Kentucky became famous for it because it did immediately stop being an militia title in every way. A charitable foundation was setup for using the title as a pa

Kentucky became famous for it because it did immediately stop being an militia title in every way. A charitable foundation was setup for using the title as a part of a charitable works program and several early Governors involved in that decided that it would be a useful idea to give the title to celebrities and other "ambassadors" to/from the commonwealth, making it as much a title to promote tourism as anything else. I think that's the fun ouroboros nature of Colonel Sanders' title in that he was made a Colonel for the predecessor to KFC. (The Sanders Cafe at his Standard Oil Gas Station was one of the first "Welcome to Kentucky" stops for early car travelers coming into Kentucky via the roads through the Cumberland Pass [I-75 today].) The Colonel of KFC was a Colonel because of KFC, just about.