At war’s end, the O’Reilly was surplused, purchased by the Seymour Line, renamed the SS Pilgrim, and returned to Lake Michigan to run the Milwaukee-Racine-Chicago route. The Seymour Line soon failed, however. It became the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Racine Steamship Company, which was purchased in 1922 by the company that built the vessel, the Goodrich Line. Two days after Goodrich took ownership of the ship again, the Pilgrim revisited the Manitowoc shipyard for overhaul. She then returned to the Chicago- Milwaukee route, making night trips opposite her Goodrich running mate, the Illinois.

In 1923, while en route to Milwaukee, the Pilgrim encountered heavy seas, forcing her to pass by her regular stop at Racine, Wis. By morning it was discovered she was taking on water. By the time she reached Milwaukee, she was listing heavily to port. The cause of this near-disaster was an opening near the starboard bow in the bustle that had been installed sixteen years earlier. The opening was repaired with extensive welding, and the Pilgrim returned to service. In 1924, forty-three years after her launching, Goodrich gave back her original name of Wisconsin.