The time period covered by the SCA is generally agreed to end at 1600, or maybe 1603 with the death of Queen Elizabeth I, but generally not much past that. Unlike the folks living in Europe, the majority of people who live in the United States do not have local history (stories, buildings, artifacts) having to do with Europe within the SCA time period.
There are, however, exceptions. A few settlements along the eastern seaboard have their origins within our timeframe, though in-period they typically were still tiny, new, and struggling. St. Augustine, Florida was founded in 1565 - well within anyone's interpretation of our time limits.
And then there are the conquistadors. A few years ago a minor conquistador - or rather, the controversy surrounding a statue of him - was in the news in New Mexico. These days, many people in New Mexico regard Juan de Oñate to be a founding father of the state. But in 1599 he oversaw the gruesome Acoma Massacre, involving the murder, enslavement, and mutilation of over a thousand people from Acoma Pueblo.
According to Wikipedia: In 1606, Oñate was recalled to Mexico City for a hearing regarding his conduct. After finishing plans for the founding of the town of Santa Fé, he resigned his post and was tried and convicted of cruelty to both natives and colonists. He was banished from New Mexico for life and exiled from Mexico City for 5 years. Eventually Oñate went to Spain, where the king appointed him head of all mining inspectors in Spain. He died in Spain in 1626. He is sometimes referred to as "the Last Conquistador."The City of El Paso, Texas erected an enormous equestrian statue of Oñate in 2007.
I was introduced to the story of Juan de Oñate, his statue, and his crimes by the podcast 99 Percent Invisible, episode 331 Oñate's Foot.
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