The section of the Conestoga upstream from the city of Lancaster often is called a âcreek.â Below the city, the waterway is called either a âcreekâ or a âriver.â The Scribbler learned this by reading a new book, âThe Conestoga River: A History,â written by Donald Kautz and published by The History Press. These designations make some sense because the beginning of the 60-mile-long Conestoga is narrow and shallow and creek-like, and the ending is wider and shallow and river-like. But âcreekâ is an informal designation for any part of the Conesto...