"Were there other commonly used forms of travel by river?"

Yes, there were: [Treideln][1], [(timber) rafting][2], [rowing][3], and [warping][4] (for example on river barges: people with a small boat rowed ahead and farther away from the big ship sank an anchor. Now the team on the big ship adducted themselves and the great
boat with the rope (connected to the anchor), pulled the anchor again, and the tedious game began again. Cf. also the [German Wikipedia article][5] or its [Google translation][6].)


  [1]: http://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treideln
  [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_rafting
  [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watercraft_rowing
  [4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warping_%28sailing%29
  [5]: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warpanker
  [6]: http://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warpanker