Proper leather shoes

Don't know about "walking boots", but most hiking and mountaineering boots sold out here in NA do use Gore Tex, and I'm talking about prices that can reach into the stratosphere. Some leather, some plastic, most machine made, but not inexpensive.

Most all of the US shoe industry has folded--- if not for the Japanese market Alden would have never survived.
The US market today is dominated by marketing companies. US based outdoot and sports companies market overwhelmingly "technology" and not quality. Most of these shoes are made in the Far East and sold with profit margins "into the stratosphere".
The main mass market Bavarian alpine shoe brands--- Lowa, Hanwag and Meindl--- still maintain, by contrast, some German production and still sell, alongside cheaper machine made shoes (which still cost 100-200 EURO, resp. 150-300 USD), higher grade double stitched boots. There are, of course, much higher grade walking shoes to be had.