>>212456368 (OP)Itโs a reference to a nervous tic that Harry Carey senior had. John Wayne replaced Carey as his leading man when Ford returned to making westerns in the sound era. Almosy all of the films he made with Ford have been lost, though, except for Straight Shooting and Hellbent.
The Searchers retires this character Ford had crafted over the previous 40 years.
Wayneโs paranoia and brutality throughout the film is punctuated with this final bashful pose, as he returns to cruel frontier that is his only home.
Or I couldve given a meme answer idk it didnโt seem like anyone was gonna answer the question.