Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, January 1996 Beginning about
1880 the economy of Cache Valley began to evolve from its
pioneer subsistence roots to a commercial economy with highly
specialized private enterprises. A leading figure in this
transition was Hyrum businessman Soren Hanson. Born in Hyrum on
May 2, 1863, he had become the largest egg dealer in the
Intermountain West by the turn of the century. In 1897, for
example, he sold 120,000 dozen eggs. Cache Valley and southern
Idaho consumed a quarter of this output, and the rest was taken
by wagon to Corinne or Ogden for shipment throughout Utah and
the surrounding states. That same year he also shipped a large
amount of grain and 100 rail cars of cattle to markets outside
of Utah. Hanson was also active in local politics, serving as
postmaster of Hyrum in the 1890s, as a city councilman from 1898
to 1902, and as mayor during 1906-8. The imposing 2 1/2-story
Queen Anne home he built at 166 West Main in Hyrum during 1905-7
reflected not only his business an