Brigadier General Richard Henry Pratt (December 6, 1840 – March 15, 1924) was an American military officer who founded and was longtime superintendent of the influential Carlisle Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He is associated with the first recorded use of the word "racism," which he used in 1902 to criticize racial segregation. Pratt is also known for using the phrase "kill the Indian, save the man" in reference to the ethos of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and efforts to assimilate and educate Native Americans about the western and American values of his time. Early life Pratt was born on December 6, 1840 in Rushford, New York to Richard and Mary Pratt (née Herrick). He was the eldest of their three sons. He contracted smallpox as a young child, and had lifelong facial scarring as a result. In 1847, his father moved the family west to Logansport, Indiana. Pratt's father later left his family to take part in the California Gold Rush in 1849, hoping to strike it rich, but was robbed and murdered by another prospector. Pratt had to support his mother and two younger brothers. Military career At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Pratt enlisted in the 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment. After his first three-month term expired, he re-enlisted as a sergeant of the 2nd Regiment Indiana Cavalry; he saw action at the Battle of Chickamauga. While on a recruiting detail in Indiana during the winter of 1863-1864, Pratt met Anna Mason. They were married on April 12, 1864. Eight days later he was commissioned as a first lieutenant of the 11th Regiment Indiana Cavalry. Pratt served in administrative roles for the remainder of the war and was mustered out of the Volunteer Service on May 29, 1865 at the rank of captain. He became a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, a military society for officers who had served the Union during the Civil War. Pratt returned to Logansport, Indiana to be reunited with Anna. There he ran a hardware store. After two years in the hardware business, he re-entered the Army in March 1867 as a second lieutenant of the 10th United States Cavalry. This was an African American regiment, some of whose members were freedmen. When they were assigned to Fort Sill in the Oklahoma Territory, they were nicknamed by Native Americans as the