I haven't seen it since I was a teenager, but I was convinced I heard one of the townspeople, near the start, say to Shane (something like) "We've been gettin' along OK with [the baddies]. We don't want no-one like you to come along and bollocks it all up".
Did I mishear?
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher.
Well in the scene at Joe Starrett's home when the male homesteaders were discussing how to deal with Ryker and Co.(Shane was also in the room), the Edgar Buchanan character told the others that Shane let Chris Calloway "buffalo" him in the bar (the previous "Soda Pop" scene in the Grafton's bar). He and Torrey were letting the other homesteaders know their feelings about Shane from what they saw in the bar and figured he would be of no use helping deal with the Rykers.
Ah, I wonder if that was it? My memory isn't perfect, but now that you mention it, I think they were talking ABOUT Shane, in his absence. But I have never heard the term "buffalo" in this context - is it a common saying?
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher.
Shane was in the room- when the other men started talking about Shane's actions in the saloon Starrett asked Shane if that was true and Shane said let them tell you.
The verb "buffalo" was more common back in the 19th Century in the USA but audiences for the movie would have undoubtedly understood its meaning:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/19/messages/261.html