However , the bankrupt Chihuahua government could not afford to continue paying Kirker and offered him instead a commission as Colonel in the Mexican Army .
Kirker claimed that he had followed the trail of stolen livestock to the Apache encampment .
The bankrupt Chihuahua government could not afford to continue paying Kirker and offered Kirker instead a commission as Colonel in the Mexican Army .
Kirker claimed that he had followed the trail of stolen livestock to the Apache encampment .