Orien Wesley Haight. Orien, an appropiate name for a sportsman, Orion the Hunter; but everyone knew him as Wes. It was always a pleasure to be around Wes Haight. Of course the majority of the time I would see him since living up-river would be my garbage runs to the Skagit County Transfer Station close to Rockport. I wasn't the only one to enjoy his company there, any time you would go there would be at least a half a dozen of his friends in the shack sharing hunting and fishing stories and probably giving him a hand with this or that. He exemplifies personality & character in human terms and I knew he needed to be in this section at the Stump Ranch. He fought the battle against cancer with grace, humor and always a smile. I would greatly appreciate more tributes from anyone who knew him.
E-Mail Dan Royal
Orien Wesley Haight, a lifetime resident of Concrete, WA passed away Saturday, August 11, 2001 at the Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon, WA with his family at his side at the age of 69 years.
He was born December 13, 1931 in Concrete, WA the son of Orien and Mabel Woolhiser Haight.
Wes grew up and attended school in Concrete, graduating with the class of 1951 from Concrete High School.
He worked for the Forest Service packing into the back country until serving with the US Navy for four years. Wes then worked for Lone Star Cement for many years before becoming self employed cutting cedar and firewood. He worked for Skagit County at the Sauk Transfer Station for the last seven years where he met and enjoyed talking with many people.
He loved fishing and hunting and spent several years as a fishing guide on the Skagit River.
Wes is survived by his wife, Pat of the family home in Concrete whom he married May 13, 1953 in Rockport; two daughters.
He had many close friends who will miss him dearly, and he was very close to his friends who visited him so often at "the office".
Wes was preceded in death by his parents, Orien and Mabel; a brother, Forest Haight; a sister, Judy Willet; and a son-inlaw, Steven Lory Nieshe." excerpt from Obituary Skagit Valley Herald
Fishin' Tales
John Koenig of John's Guide Service shared this tribute about Wes at his website which can be found at http://www.johns-guide-service.com/index.html. Photo is from John's website.
Born in Concrete on Dec. 13th, 1931 and lifelong resident,
Wes guided for the Lone Star Concrete company back -- as he says, "When there was fish in the Skagit". Lone Star employed Wes to guide
many of the company's clients on the Skagit in his sled.
Wes became a great friend and I loved re-living his wonderful
tales of what the Skagit was like back in its hey-day before he passed away last year.
He was always quick to greet with a smile and a hug and loved telling his fishing and hunting stories to any that would listen.
He will always hold a special place in my heart and be greatly missed.
One of the greatest fishing "tales" I ever heard was told to me by Wes and actually published in the local paper. Here it is for your enjoyment:
"Years ago when I used to guide on the Skagit River and there was lots of steelhead and
the mighty Skagit was number one in the state, I decided one evening to try above the Dalles Bridge, it was a great native
steelhead hole. About the third cast out I hooked a fish and I knew I was in trouble. It was so big that at first I thought it was
an early King salmon. Well, anyway, after 20-30 minutes of him running up and down the river, my line became hung up in one place.
I could pull him in just so far, and it became solid. I was half sick thinking I had a world record fish, when all of a sudden a
boat came drifting down. In it were skin divers looking for fishing tackle on stumps, logs, etc. One of them said he would go down
and check it out for me. After a few shaky moments he came to the surface and said it was the biggest steelhead he'd ever seen,
bigger than a King salmon. I asked what my line was hung up on and he said the fish was inside of an old car body someone had
dumped in the river years ago. I then asked him if he could chase the fish out, and he said he'd tried but that every time he got near
the car, the steelhead rolled the window up and locked the doors." Wes Haight
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