"Montana" departed Hampton Roads on 8 April 1910, bound for South America for the Argentina Centennial. She steamed in company with her sister ship , eventually reaching Maldonado, Uruguay, where the two cruisers met their sister and the armored cruiser , which had steamed down independently. The four ships then continued on to Bahía Blanca, Argentina, for the centennial celebrations. The ship left Argentina on 30 June and arrived back in Hampton Roads on 22 July. After resuming her normal peacetime routine for the following three months, "Montana" was tasked with escorting President William Howard Taft aboard "Tennessee" for a trip to Panama. The two ships departed Charleston on 10 November for the visit, which lasted a week. On 26 July 1911, "Montana" was transferred to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and she began an overhaul at the Portsmouth Navy Yard that lasted until 11 November 1912. During the overhaul, a cage mast was installed in place of her original fore military mast.