At the end of the 19th century, workers of African-American origin were working in the sawmills in the area and in the resort homes in the region.

The work "Forests and Clearings: The History of Stanstead County […]", published in 1874, indicates that the toponym of the river comes from the establishment around 1804 of a black family named Tatton, on its banks.

Oral or popular tradition provides other interpretations as to the origin of the appellation, in particular that the name of the river comes from that of a part of the equipment of a sawmill called "nigger".

The first attestation of the current name "Niger River" is reported in 1863 on the Map of the "District of St Francis (Putnam and Gray)".

[3][4] The toponym "rivière Niger" was made official on September 4, 2006, at the Commission de toponymie du Québec.