Rex, not sure I can be much use over here in the Uk, but I use leather in my bookbinding and have built up a few suppliers whichI think are useful, not sure if it would be economic to pay for the carriage costs to the States.
But what I wanted to say was ask what sort of tanning processes are used, the natural ones such as tannin or summac give a much nicer skin, and much easier to work with as opposed to the Chrome(or mineral) tanned ones.Blades stay much sharper with the softer hides.
Good luck