After reading Katie's original post, which included questions pondering how the western design has influenced modern typography, I decided to do some digging on this. I found a site (Font Craft, in case any of you know it, though this is my first exposure to it) that includes a "wild west" font collection. According to the site, they are modern but "historically accurate." Here's what they say about their font "Plowright":
"Plowright is a new font based on hand lettering from the 1880s. It’s a great example of the style we often associate with signmaking in the old west, with a lot of quirks and original character."
While I do like the idea of the fonts being quirky and having character, I pretty much hate this site because it's the equivalent of strobe lights for me with everything that's going on. See for yourself if you wish:
http://www.fontcraft.com/fontcraft/wild-west-fonts/#sthash.7hVydDI8.y6QOb8hs.dpbs
