For thousands of years, the Chumash visited Anacapa Island, which they called Anyapakh, meaning “mirage.” The first European settlers, fishermen, and sheep ranchers arrived in the 1800s. The Coast Guard built the last permanent light station on the west coast in 1932. Protection for the island began in 1938, when Anacapa Island and Santa Barbara Island became a national monument, and in 1980 it was designated as part of Channel Islands National Park. Twelve miles from the mainland, Anacapa Island rises from the ocean as five-mile-long volcanic rock divided into three islets—East, Middle, and West. Waves have eroded the island, creating towering sea cliffs, sea caves, and natural bridges such as forty-foot-high Arch Rock, a symbol of Anacapa Island and Channel Islands National Park. The island provides critically important habitat for endemic plants and animals, pinnipeds, and seabirds, including the largest California brown pelican rookery in the United States, and its waters are protected by the National Park Service, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, and the State of California.