He joined with Tecumseh to push the settlers south and east of the Ohio River and followed him to defeat in Canada during the War of 1812.
The Potawatomi had been among those to accept the offer, but though incidents of violence did take place, the Lieutenant-Governor of Spanish Illinois summed up the lackluster efforts of his various allies by stating that they "merely pretend to make effective their promises, while even showing the willingness to make peace, in order to frighten us and to attract immense presents..."[2] By the turn of the century the few notable, trans-Mississippi raids that did take place were attributed to only two particular Potawatomi leaders: Turkey Foot of the Tippecanoe and Main Poc of the Kankakee.
White settlers in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois were particularly incensed by these forays as raiding parties often pilfered horses and livestock as well as killed a number of homesteaders and travelers .
Responding to Osage pressure, the United States did its best to purchase and recover as many of the captives as possible, most of whom had been sold to the Sauk and Mesquakies along the Mississippi in northwestern Illinois.
With the depletion of the food stocks at Prophetstown, which the prophet had moved to the previous summer, the Potawatomi warriors were returning to their own villages.
In April, the recovered Main Poc moved his village to Crow Prairie at the northern end of Lake Peoria.
Obtaining their allegiance, Main Poc traveled to the British post at Amherstburg (across from Detroit) to spend the winter of 1811 in Canada.
But, Main Poc remained in Canada, sending Wabameme to the Potawatomi villages around Lake Michigan preparing them for war.
By July, word was received among the warriors following Tecumseh that Main Poc was returning from the British with kegs of powder.
Main Poc spent the summer on southern Lake Michigan, but his influence was felt as his messengers continued to counsel war among the Potawatomi villages.
Main Poc and Shabbona were in Canada at the siege of Detroit, while Blackbird and Mad Sturgeon lead the attack (August 15, 1812) on Fort Dearborn (Chicago).
When the American Brigadier General Duncan McArthur, stationed to protect Detroit and the supply route, extended a truce to the nations of the lower lakes.
[3] In summer 1814, most of the tribes of the Old Northwest, including the pro-American chiefs of the Potawatomi, signed a peace treaty with the American government.
Main Poc and the other pro-British Potawatomi chiefs (Moran, Mad Sturgeon, and Chebass) refused to attend the peace conference, instead moving with their followers into northern Indiana and southeastern Michigan.
They assembled 800 warriors along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan) to meet MacArthur's expedition, and acquired supplies of gunpowder from British fur traders.