John Sparks (August 30, 1843 – May 22, 1908) was an American politician. He was the tenth Governor of Nevada, and was nicknamed Honest John. Like his predecessor, Reinhold Sadler, Sparks was a cattleman and his rise to political power was evidence of the decline of the mining industry and the rise of the ranching industry in Nevada. He was a member of the Silver – Democratic Party. In 1958, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Biography Early life Sparks was born on August 30, 1843 in Winston County, Mississippi. His family was one of those known as "new lands families", who specialized in developing land on the frontier and then selling out and moving on as settlement in the area increased. His family followed the frontier through Arkansas, moving on to Texas in 1857 by which point they were moderately wealthy. In Texas they began ranching cattle, and John became a proficient cowboy. Cattleman career In 1861, Sparks joined the Texas Rangers, probably to avoid being drafted into the Confederate Army. His unit was tasked with protecting settlers from the Comanche, and he did not fight in the Civil War. After the war, Sparks drove cattle in the huge Longhorn drives of the era, at first working for John Meyers, and later in partnership with his brothers. In 1872, Sparks married Rachel Knight and they had two daughters, Maude and Rachel. In 1873, Sparks bought a large herd of cattle in Texas then drove them to Wyoming and established a ranch in the Chugwater River valley near Cheyenne. He sold that ranch and its 2,100 head of cattle the next year to the Swan Brothers. After that, Sparks established a series of ranches along the North Platte River, each of which he quickly sold and invested the money in the next ranch. Sparks also invested in a bank in Georgetown, Texas (his wife's hometown), where he also built a mansion. In 1879 his wife died, and in 1880 Sparks married her half-sister Nancy Elnora "Nora" Knight, they had three sons, Benton, Charles and Leland. By that time there was no unclaimed rangeland left east of the Rockies, and Sparks cast his eye further west. Joining with fellow Texan John Tinnin, Sparks bought the H-D Ranch in the Thousand Springs Valley north of Elko, Nevada in 1881. In 1883