Hi - there's a new Website, Sacramento History Online, which may give you the information you're seeking. Yes, there were docks along the Sacramento River, mostly in Old Sacramento. These were replaced by the Port of Sacramento facility in more recent times - ships going to the port travel through canals. It's a kick to be driving along country roads, passing ships that are in a canal, a hundred yards away - and when the water level is high in Winter, the ships are often high above the roadway.

The Sacramento River is navigable for maybe a hundred miles above Sacramento, and there was a lot of riverboat traffic. The sidewheelers Delta King and Delta Queen were built for the Sacramento River - in 1926, I believe. The Delta King lost its engines in a renovation, and is now a floating restaurant and hotel at Old Sacramento; and the Delta Queen now masquerades as a Mississippi riverboat. There has also been a lot of barge traffic on the Sacramento river over the years. The Port of Sacramento Authority has been near bankruptcy in recent years, and there isn't much commercial traffic on the river any more. But until World War II, Sacramento was a busy port.

Hope that gives you a start.

-Joe Offer-
(I now live in the Sierra Foothills near Colfax, but I lived in Sacramento for 20 years and I love the history of this area)