Life on the Border is a true story of life in the early days of America. It is the terrible experience of a young pioneer mother left alone for the day in her wilderness home with only a five-year-old child as company. The mother is accidentally imprisoned in a woodshed near the cabin, by her child. The little one tries in vain to lift the heavy latch, and while the mother is thus imprisoned, a bear, being pursued by a band of prowling Indians, arrives upon the scene. Frightened nearly to death, the child hides near a pile of logs. The imprisoned mother, thoroughly frightened, becomes frantic as the pursuing Indians come upon the scene. The Indians explore the grounds and ransack the empty cabin, finding the "fire water" and medicine chest. In their subsequent hilarity they set fire to the cabin and out-buildings, among them the shed in which the terrified mother is imprisoned. The drunken Indians, suddenly remembering the bear, depart in search of the animal.