Ask Tom Burke to pick a favorite piece at the American Angus Hall of Fame, and he’ll tell you it’s impossible. 

“They’re all special to me,” said the longtime sale manager and notable curator of Angus history. 

The Angus Conversation visited Smithville, Mo., where Burke selected his top 10 items in the collection. 

The property boasts large collections of items, from household publications to obscure curiosities. There’s a little bit of everything, but it’s all unified with one common thread: they were important to someone in the Angus breed.  

“One of the rules when you come to visit the American Angus Hall of Fame is don’t bring any cash, and there’s not very many places you can go anymore that you don’t need cash,” Burke added. “We’re just happy you’re here.” 

A visitor could spend hours and hours looking at all there is to see, but these are among Burke’s favorite treasures:

1. The collection of more than 12,000 Angus Journal editions. 

The first magazines were published by Fred Hahne in Webster City, Iowa, before the magazine changed hands and was eventually acquired by the American Angus Association in 1979. 

“It came out when there wasn’t correspondence, and communication wasn’t as good, so it came out twice a month and then it went to one time a month,” Burke said. 

They have every single one.

Today, if you want to find a specific month and year, they’re easy to peruse. 

“I used to have them in big piles. They were frightening. But then I took them and had them bound.” 

2. 60,000 historical Angus sale books. 

“We’ve got the [sale books] going back all the way to the very first Angus sales in the United States of America,” Burke said, noting they reference them from time to time. “If you want to know something about a farm, if I can’t find it, I’m not sure it can be found.”

3. The Certified Angus Beef logo painting. 

“I think it’s the greatest beef promotion I’ve ever seen,” Burke explained. 

As the cattleman travels the countryside, he’s admired a great many of those in other locations, too. 

“When I go by one, I just stop and look and say, ‘What a promotional piece for our breed and how proud we can be of this, that farmers and ranchers are willing to put this on their barn and carry the message to everyone,’” Burke said.

4. 50 Angus head mounts. 

All around the Hall, famous Angus bulls keep watch. 

Ideal 4465, TC Dividend, Independence and the list goes on. But Burke made special note of Rover of Powery, the oldest Angus head mount in the collection. 

“I was on the North Sea of Scotland, and I walked out of this barn and there he was,” he recalled. “I said to the lady who owned the farm, ‘You know, he’d like to have U.S. citizenship.’” 

After some negotiation and with some help from a friend, the head mount made its way to be refurbished before settling in Missouri. 

5. A complete set of Angus herd books. 

“We have them from Scotland. We have them from the United States. We have them from Australia,” Burke said. 

With around 300,000 new registrations every year, the collection continues to grow.

“When we run into the snag, we go get our red book out and we’re right on track,” he said.

6. The Angus cemetery. 

“That might be kind of grim to some people,” Burke admited, but he sees it as preserving history on some of the notable contributors to the breed’s genetic pool. 

As farms’ ownership has changed hands, he’s acquired tombstones of some of the most prominent bulls. 

“They would’ve got ground into the soil, and that probably would’ve been it. But I’m glad we were able to give them a good home and it all worked out,” he said.

7. A statue collection of popular sires. 

“When a bull leads the breed for registration or something, we usually have a plaque made of him,” Burke explained. 

All of the bronze statues are made by the same Minnesota artist, and are lined up for display. If you catch Burke in person, he’ll share a story to go along with each one. 

8.Original oil paintings. 

A unique painting of Great Northern hangs in Burke’s office, and down the hall there’s a piece featuring Ballot of Belladrum, who won the Royal Highland Show in Scotland before he was exported to the United States.

9. The Angus grotto. 

Around the outside of the Hall of Fame are rocks with inscriptions of memorable quotes within the breed. It started with just one quote, and has grown to 30. 

“It never will be complete. It won’t be. There’ll be these things happening all the time,” Burke said. 

He does have one rule when visiting the grotto: no talking. 

“You’re supposed to be meditating on Angus, and once you leave the grotto, you just want to go to an auction and just buy them all.”

10.  A dozen books authored by Burke. 

His efforts to capture Angus history extend to authoring or co-authoring a dozen books, including The Angus Legend, which has sold into 20 different countries. 

“If you’re going to do a book like the Legend book, it’s about a 10-year project by the time you get all the pedigrees done and have everything done,” Burke said. “Probably one I’m the most proud of is The Angus Legend.”

In addition to walking through his favorite pieces, Burke retold stories like selling Al Gore’s family’s bull sale, and how Bill Clinton helped him clerk a sale.

“So, it was the only time in my life that I’ve ever known the president and the vice president before they were famous,” he said.

With more than 60 years of experience and countless miles up and down the road, Burke has arguably seen more Angus cattle than anybody else in the business. 

“I’m so proud that the Lord made it possible for me to be an Angus person,” he said. 

Burke is excited to see what’s next.  

“The Angus breed is a breed of action and that’s why it’s so attractive to people,” he said. “This breed has really grown, and I think the thing that makes us so strong is the quality of breeders that we’ve got.” 

To hear everything from Burke’s background in the business to how the Hall of Fame came to be, search for The Angus Conversation in your favorite podcast platform, or follow the link below.