Before the names mean anything.
Two sworn accounts survive from work in May 1838 that tried to locate treaty-time Choctaw residences on the land. One is Robert Bell’s. Another is Blackwell’s. They describe related work, but they do not remember its timing in the same words.
Bell says Blackwell came to his house and asked him to point out treaty-time residence places. This test does not identify him with the Robert Bell later named by the Bell–McKinney family.
Blackwell says David Bell had first been recommended as guide but could not be found, so Robert Bell was taken instead. He describes looking for survey marks, determining land numbers, and writing them down during the work.
Because the two accounts carry different time expressions for what appears to be related residence-location work. The listening room does not repair the difference. It lets the seam remain visible.
You do not need to know MCR 879, Article XIV, or the Workshop before entering. The listening room comes after this footing, not before it.