Not entirely true but it’s an interesting topic...
npr is not the first source I’d go to for the truth.
What I found interesting is NPR was willing to paint him as a racist (with some blurring and halfhearted caveats) but when you look at his personal experience from Wikipedia:
"...Pratt's long and active military career included eight years in the great plains, which involved participation in some of the signal conflicts with Native Americans of the southern plains, including the Washita campaign of 1868–1869 and the Red River War of 1874–1875. The winter of 1874-1875 caused many hostiles to surrender to their Indian Agents and Pratt was responsible for gathering testimony for and against the worst offenders. He worked directly with interpreters and prisoners to clear as many charges as possible..."
Yikes.
Those were the worst times out there. And he was privy to much of it. I wonder about the horrible things he must have seen in his role as described above being responsible for gathering testimony, meeting people who were likely horribly scarred if they survived, never mind his actual combat experiences that must have made him say that famous quote: "kill the Indian...to save the man"
I believe in many respects, he would be a conservative today. He believed in assimilating Indians into America, not keeping them on reservations. I don't have trouble imagining the kind of politicians of the day who wanted to keep Indians "on the reservation". Probably similar to Leftists of today, who portray themselves as protectors of the oppressed, but are among the most virulent of racists in their policies.
This is only my initial impression of this man, my opinion may change as I read more. I am going to read more about him to get a more even-handed approach than leftist sources like Wikipedia or NPR. But I am going to try to keep him in his place and time in history as I evaluate him, not rip him out and transplant him into today's standards, which is what the Left constantly does.
Pratt's approach towards Native Americans seems to me to more closely mirror the approach Booker T. Washington advocated for blacks in America, an approach that should have been adopted, rather than that of W.E.B. Dubois. I think that was a disaster for black America.