Kentucky Colonel is the highest title of honor bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and is the most well-known of a number of honorary colonelcies conferred by United States governors. A Kentucky Colonel Commission (the certificate) is awarded in the name of the Commonwealth by the Governor of Kentucky to individuals with "Honorable" titular style recognition preceding the names of civilians aged 18 or over, for noteworthy accomplishments, contributions to civil society, remarkable deeds, or outstanding service to the community, state, or a nation. The Governor bestows the honorable title with a colonelcy commission, by issuance of letters patent. While many famous and noteworthy people have received commissions as Kentucky colonels, the award is equally available to those of all backgrounds based on their deeds. A Kentucky Colonel is traditionally considered a goodwill ambassador of the Kentucky state, culture, folklore, traditions and values. History The history of colonels in Kentucky begins with the pioneer, Daniel Boone when he was commissioned by Col. Judge Richard Henderson of the Transylvania Company to blaze and establish the Wilderness Road with a company of men. In March 1775, Colonel Richard Henderson and Daniel Boone met with more than 1,200 indigenous Cherokee at Sycamore Shoals (present day Elizabethton in northeastern Tennessee). Prior to the signing of the Sycamore Shoals Treaty, Col. Henderson had hired Daniel Boone, an experienced hunter, to travel to the Cherokee towns and to inform them of the upcoming negotiations. Boone had been in southeast Kentucky long before the founding of any Kentucky settlements. Afterward, Boone was commissioned a colonel to blaze what became known as the Wilderness Road, which went from Virginia through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Along with a party of about thirty men under his authority as a colonel for the Transylvania Company, Boone marked a path to the Kentucky River, where he established Boonesborough (in present-day Madison County, Kentucky), which was intended to be the capital of Transylvania Colony. From the early 20th century, it was widely believed, at least since the 1930s, "that when the Kentucky Militia was deactivated following the War of 1812, Governor Isaac Shelby commissioned Charles Stewart Todd as one of his officers in the campaign, made him an aide-de-camp on the governor's staff with the rank and grade of colonel in 1813". The story was proven to be a myth based in state folklore from the "Derby Colonels" which was