My familiarity with Westerns is neither broad enough nor deep enough to make a convincing argument, but since I can think of two examples (Firefly and Stephen King's Dark Tower books) that are Westerns without taking place in the actual Old West, I think there's something else going on there.
And the thing about alternate history/alternate universe is that it can be either something that looks like science fiction (i.e., there's nothing "fantastical" about it) or something that's obviously fantasy: Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy stories, matociquala's New Amsterdam, Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci books.
no subject
And the thing about alternate history/alternate universe is that it can be either something that looks like science fiction (i.e., there's nothing "fantastical" about it) or something that's obviously fantasy: Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy stories,
(Also, Malificent FTW!)