Duane - without opening a dictionary, real or virtual:

A "point" along any shoreline would be understood as a pointed protrusion of
the land into the water. It is usually caused by currents that change
direction for one reason or another, washing away the bank before a rock
formation or a
colliding current bends the flow. Along oceans or big lakes there are many
as well. Point Lobos in Central-South California is a spectacular one,
formed by the cold Alaska current encounters the swirl of the tropical
current from
south.
    My favorite, though, is the coastal state park in Oregon called "Hug
Point." No visitors' center, no snackbar, small parking area. Quarelling
couples driving route 101 are fools if they don't stop there, walk down to
the beach
separately or together for a stroll, then break out a picnic lunch, hug, and
find they're no longer angry. I've watched it happen.
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I assume he put quote marks around "points"  to distinguish them from just
any old geographic location that a reader might first take the word for. On
the River, they are more likely to move. On more static shores, they grow
into
capes.

First impulse on crossings would be a synonym for "ford" - calmer, shallow
water. A bridge is a crossing, of course, but there weren't as many of those
back then.