Rhododendron on the heights

Hugh Morton standing on Grandfather Mountain
“Mountain climber Hugh Morton scales Grandfather Mountain, in western North Carolina for this view of the rhododendron on the heights.”

Newspapers within at least seventeen states from Oregon to Florida and California to Maine published this photograph—with the above caption but with no accompanying story—as early as June 30, 1949 in Bristol Tennessee, and throughout July but mostly during the four days approaching and including Independence Day.

In most cases the photograph appeared solo, but in other instances it was part of a full page spread with other photographs from the Associated Press.