north to the Canadian border near Oroville and Osoyoos, where it terminates and becomes British Columbia Highway 97 (BC 97). BC 97 continues through the British Columbia Interior and terminates at the Yukon border, eventually becoming part of the Alaska Highway. History US 97 was established as part of the initial United States Numbered Highway System, adopted by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) on November 11, 1926. It ran north from US 99 near Ashland, Oregon, to the Canadian border near Oroville, Washington, generally following the California-Banff Bee-Line (an early auto trail) through Oregon. The highway also used existing state roads that were designated in the 1910s by the Oregon and Washington governments, which had been partially paved. US 97 was extended south from Klamath Falls to Weed in 1935. During World War II, US 97 formed the eastern boundary of a restricted military zone for Washington and Oregon created in March 1942 ahead of the mass internment of Japanese Americans. The state of Washington built several bridges on the Columbia River in the 1960s to replace existing ferry crossings, including two on US 97. The Sam Hill Memorial Bridge opened in 1962 to connect Biggs Junction, Oregon, with Maryhill, Washington, and operated as a toll bridge until 1975. The Beebe Bridge opened near Chelan in 1963, replacing a one-lane bridge, and was incorporated into US 97 with a realignment on the east side of the river that was approved in 1988. The relocation also resulted in the creation of US 97 Alternate on the old route to the west of the Columbia River between Wenatchee and Chelan. The highway was also relocated in some areas to accommodate the construction of dams on the Columbia River, including the Rocky Reach Dam near Wenatchee. Several sections of the highway were also replaced with expressways or other limited-access roads bypassing city centers beginning in the 1950s. US 97 was relocated onto the Klamath Falls bypass when it opened in November 1959; the section cost $1.8 million to construct. US 97 was relocated onto an arterial street east of Bend in 1962, bypassing a congested section through downtown. The Okanogan and Omak sections were bypassed to the east by a new highway that opened in 1964. US 97 was relocated onto I-82 between Union Gap and Ellensburg when the freeway opened in 1971, bypassing downtown Yakima and the Yakima Canyon